THE National Paralympic Committee (NPC) has launched a goal ball training video that is aimed at teaching people who are vision impaired and blind in Rwanda to play this beautiful game.Goalball which 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 after the Second World War was introduced in Rwanda in 2005.Produced by Jasper Linke, a 20 year old German volunteer at the NPC Rwanda, the 16-minute video explains the theory of the game, offensive and defensive strategies as well as the conduct of the game.“I am so happy for the NPC to have such a document that will play a big role in the development of goal ball in the East African region and the world over,” said explained an excited Linke yesterday.The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has informed NPC that this video will be used to teach different trainers across the world and according to the IPC Development Manager, Carolin Rickers training camps will be set up in Angola later in the year.According to the NPC general secretary, Celestin Nzeyimana, the video will also be adopted by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) which will use it world wide to teach and promote goalball.“We have a vision to send a team to the 2020 Paralympics Games so we have to start the ground work and teaching the other East Africans about this game which is also a way of selling this Rwandan product (the video),” said a thrilled Nzeyimana.NPC will also teach trainers across the East African region between July-December in a bid to spread the game. Delegates from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan will converge in Kigali for these seminars.Goalball can also be played by people without visionary disabilities but are required to put on eye shades. Each team is represented by two teams of three people with a maximum of three substitutes on each team.
