Brief History of the Game

Goalball was invented in 1946 by an Austrian, Hanz Lorenzen, and German Sepp Reindle, in an effort to help in the rehabilitation of blinded war veterans.  The game was introduced to the world in 1976 at the Paralympics in Toronto, Canada, and has been played at every Paralympic Games since.  As well, every four years, a World Championships has been held with the first being in Austria in 1978.  Since that time the popularity of Goalball has increased to where it is now played competitively in all regions of the world.

Goalball World Championships and Paralympics 1976- 2008

Paralympic Games

1976  Toronto Canada                      
1980  Assen Netherlands                  
1984   New York  USA                    
1988  Seoul  Korea
1992  Barcelona Spain  
1996  Atlanta USA                   
2000  Sydney Australia
2004  Athens Greece
2008   Beijing  China         

World Championships

1978  Vocklamarkt Austria                 
1982  Indianapolis USA 7        
1986  Roermond Netherlands               
1990  Calgary Canada               
1994  Colorado Springs USA               
1998  Madrid Spain               
2002  Rio de Janeiro Brazil
2006  Spartanburg USA