Emily is a National Goalball referee
A Goalball match being played at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. WHAT is goalball you might ask?
Well, if you ask Dubbo’s Emily Garnsey, she will set you right about a sport for people with vision impairment that was invented in 1946 in an effort to help in the rehabilitation of blinded war veterans.
Emily has just returned from the National Goalball Championships in Perth where she refereed 12 games and was an official in 18 other matches with teams from NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia in mens, womens, youth and junior divisions.
The Nationals representation continues an impressive list of appointments to major tournaments for the university graduate. Emily also officiated at the National Goalball Championships in Melbourne and the Pacific Schools Games in Adelaide in 2017, as well as the Sydney City and Metro Cup in Sydney.
The young official is a Level 1 Referee, qualifying at the nationals which means she is now in line to act as a goal judge at Paralympic level!
It is quite an achievement for someone who was only introduced to the sport during a university course placement.
Goalball was introduced to the world in 1976 at the Paralympics in Toronto, Canada and has been played at every Paralympics since. World Championships have also been held every year since Austria in 1978 and Goalball is now played competitively around the world.
Goalball competitions are Goalball team: Emily Garnsey is pictured front row, third from right.
unique to all other sports due to the required quiet atmosphere inside the playing venue.
All athletes wear “blackout” eye shades whilst on the playing court. This allows players with varying degrees of vision impairment to participate together. Anyone can
play Goalball at the national level, but need to wear “shades” and have their eyes taped, but only the vision impaired can play at the Paralympics
Emily’s story is one of grabbing an opportunity and going for it when it presents in an unexpected manner.
Well done, Ms Garnsey – we’ll keep our eyes peeled for you at the next Paralympics!
More info:
www.goalballaustralia.com.au www.goalball.com.au