Below are news blurbs and links to stories--all of which are regarding the Paralympic sport of Goalball, played in the United States of America.

If it's involving goalball in the USA, or if it's of interest to those involved with goalball here in the USA, we'll do our best to share it here.

If you have the results of (or a story regarding) the latest goalball tournament, please let us know. Share your story or news update with us, if it involves goalball.

Darryl Green Memorial Fund (6/6/07)

In a recent announcement, the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes said:

"It is with much sadness and grief that we regretfully share with you the loss of long time, dedicated US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and Blind Sports Organization (BSO) member Darryl Green from Philadelphia, Pa. Darryl, age 24, was tragically killed by a hit-and-run driver early Sunday morning, June 3 in St. Augustine, FL.

Darryl was competing with his fellow teammates from the BSO Pennsylvania Venom in the USABA Goalball National Championships held in St. Augustine, FL.

Darryl had a passion for life. He was a very dedicated and accomplished member of the USABA and BSO competing in Goalball and Beep Baseball, sports specially designed for athletes who are blind and visually impaired. Darryl helped many other blind and visually impaired youth and adults learn and improve their skills in both sports. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, fellow athletes, coaches and officials from throughout the United States.

BSO has established a Memorial fund for Darryl's mom to help defray funeral related expenses. Anyone who wishes to donate can do so through:

Darryl Green Memorial Fund
Citizens Bank
323 Old York Rd.
Jenkintown, PA 19046

All donations will be acknowledged to Darryl's mother.

Story updates can be found at these links:

The Philadelphia Inquirer @ Philly.com

Woman Arrested In Fatal Hit-and-Run

Goalball Athlete Killed in Hit-and-Run (6/3/07)

June 3, 2007 -- 24-year-old Darryl Green, a goalball athlete from Philadelphia, has been killed by a hit-and-run driver while in St. Augustine, Florida for the USABA Goalball National Championships.

“Green was found dead just after 1 this morning on State Highway 16 and US Route 1 in Saint Augustine, Florida. Police say a white truck or SUV hit him and kept going,” Says an article from 6abc.com.

6abc.com added, “Green's Goalball team had just won the silver medal, in the tournament.”

While congratulations go out to the team, we give our sincere condolences to the family and teammates of Darryl Green. May God bless his soul, his family, and his teammates.

U.S. Women's Goalball Team Claims Gold in Sweden (5/22/2007)

"(Colorado Springs, Colo) – The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) Women’s National Goalball Team won the Malmo Ladies’ InterCup Tournament in Malmo, Sweden this past weekend. In the championship game, the U.S. team overcame a halftime deficit of 0-1 to beat Canada 4-2 to win the tournament. The U.S. team had previously lost to the Canadians in the gold medal game at the 2004 Athens Paralympics."

Kids & Parents Experience Goalball at a School in Hempfield, Pennsylvania (5/17/2007)

This is an article describing the first-time experience of some parents and their children, during a goalball exhibition at the Clairview School in Hempfield, Pennsylvania. This is a good article to show what positive results could be obtained at your school just as easily. The article is titled, "Players Hear Their Way to A Win," by Shannon Farr.

The Utah Tournament Results Are In! (May 06, 2007)

The 2007 USABA Western Regional Goalball Tournament has wrapped-up. Below are the final results. For more information on the details below, please contact Tony Jepson of the Utah Foundation for the Blind & Visually Impaired:

"Here are the results;

Women:
First Place: BORP (California)
Second Place: Utah TNT (girls)
Third Place: Illinois Tsunami
Fourth Place: Utah Dynamite

Men:
First Place: Utah Explosion
Second Place: Illinois Riptide 2
Third Place: Illinois Riptide1
Fourth Place: Kentucky Thoroughbreds "

The Results Are In!   Final Scores for the WMU/USABA John Bakos Memorial Goalball Tournament Follow:

Below is partial text of a March 5, 2007, press release by the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes. For more information about this release, contact USABA Representative, John Potts:

"Kalamazoo, MI: The First Annual John Bakos Memorial Goalball Tournament (formerly known as the USABA Midwest Regional Goalball Tournament) brought 14 of the best men's and women's goalball teams from across the country together at Western Michigan University this past weekend.

In a rematch battle of defensive skills that went deep into sudden-death overtime, the Kalamazoo Chaos once again took top women's team tournament honors over the Colorado Bandits by the score of 1-0. In another sudden-death overtime battle, the women from New Jersey edged-out their Florida rivals for third place honors by winning their match, 2-1.

The men's competition was no less exciting as the home town favorite WMU Wrecking Crew topped the BSO Venom by the score of 11-5 to capture gold medal honors. The team from NE Florida defeated the GLASA (7-4) for the bronze medal.

The Midwest Regional Goalball Tournament was renamed this year to honor John Bakos, Western Michigan University Alumnus and former WMU Wrecking Crew coach who later coached the USA Men's Goalball team to a Bronze Medal in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. " It's fitting that the First Annual John Bakos Memorial Goalball Tournament was solid, competitive goalball", said Mark Lucas, USABA Executive Director. Bakos past away last year from cancer. "

WMU to Host First USABA John Bakos Memorial Goalball Tournament(2/22/2007)

"KALAMAZOO -- Let the games begin! Visually challenged athletes from across the United States and Canada will converge on the Western Michigan University campus Saturday and Sunday, March 3-4, for the First United States Association of Blind Athletes John Bakos Memorial Goalball Tournament.

The competition, pitting the best teams from the United States and Canada against each other in the fast-paced sport for blind athletes, runs from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 3 and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 4 in the WMU Student Recreation Center. Teams are expected from Arizona, California, Colorado, Tennessee, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana to compete along with several teams from Michigan." (Read the full story at the link above.)

Goalball Opens Sports to the Blind (2/21/2007)

"STAUNTON -- Imagine playing a sport that requires using a combination of skill sets from soccer, bowling and dodgeball, while being predominately on your knees and blindfolded.

That is the short version of what the players on the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind's goalball team experience every time they step onto the court.

And on Tuesday afternoon, Sports Editor, Hubert F. Grim III and I [Blair J. Parker] got the opportunity to see and actually experience for ourselves what goalball is by competing against VSDB's team." (Read the full story at the link above.)