Israeli athletes returned home from the Women’s and Youth Trakai International Goalball Tournament in Lithuania on March 25 with medals in this soccer-like sport for people with visual disabilities, where goalies and players are guided by jingling bells inside the ball.
The women’s team won the gold medal after defeating teams from France, the United States, Finland and Russia.
The under-19 boys team won the silver medal after beating Denmark, Lithuania, Germany and Sweden, and being defeated by South Korea.
In goalball, players compete wearing blindfolds to even the playing field between those with limited and no vision. The Israelis are professionally coached at the Blind Education Center and at Beit Halochem in Tel Aviv.
During the same week, Israeli Paralympic wheelchair tennis players Adam Berdichevsky and Assi Stokol won the Czech Wheelchair Open Championship, defeating teams from Japan and Russia. They train at Ilan Ramat Gan under coach Ofri Lankri.