Boys and girls, men and women. If you are blind or visually impaired, you can play Goalball in the USA.
In local community games and even Goalball games between various teams within a state, mixed leagues are playing right now. boys and girls, men and women, all mixed. If you want to play, you certainly can.
Some of the longer-running and more standardized programs around the country have enough players already so that they have separate teams for girls and boys, and for men and women. Not all states are like this though. Some states, such as the state of Ohio, are so new to introducing the sport of Goalball to it's residents, that in the beginning, there are going to be mixed games being played.
Now, once you get some games under your belt, and either you or your team want to compete on a larger level, you can enter regional or national competitions. When you get to that point, check out our Goalball Calendar page, as it will list Goalball events around the country such as these.
Not everyone will want to go this far. Some will just enjoy playing the sport of Goalball as a leisurely activity. But if you choose to, you can try to "go for the gold," and practice and play enough so that you end up being spotted in tournaments and, hopefully, picked for the U.S. Goalball Team to represent our country in an International Goalball Competition!
When playing in regional or national events in the USA, the teams are split into categories such as men's, women's, youth, and adults.
But like we said, the only real criteria is that you are blind or visually impaired. Although, again sometimes with newer programs still starting out, sighted persons who are interested in playing may also get a chance to play in the localized games. People such as the parents or siblings of a blind child, or perhaps if you wanted to volunteer your time to help out a program in your area, you might also get some play time in, if you want it.
But for the official competitions, here in the USA, it's restricted to the blind and visually impaired.
Know anyone that is blind, that you think might be interested in Goalball? Tell them to join our USA Goalball discussion list.
