SAVANNAH, Ga. () — This coming Friday marks the start of the annual Savannah Youth Goalball Invitational, where nearly 100 middle and high school athletes who are blind or visually impaired will compete.
Goalball is a sport tailored for those with visual impairments, where athletes listen for bells inside the ball to track it and aim to score by getting the ball into the opponent’s net.
There will be 16 girls and boys team from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Utah and Ontario, Canada.
Among the competitors are two local athletes from the Coastal Empire: Matthew Gavin, a sophomore at Benedictine Military School, and Sky Yvon, a 7th grader at Effingham Middle School.
The Georgia Blind Sports Association, with sponsorship from Savannah’s Window World, is hosting the fourth annual tournament from Friday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 21, at the St. Peter the Apostle School and Parish Center, located at 7020 Concord Rd.
The game schedule runs from 3-7 p.m. on Friday and from 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday. The medal matches—bronze, silver, and gold—will occur from 8:30 a.m.-noon on Sunday.
Sponsors for the event also include Georgia Power, Savannah Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Levy Jewelers, Speedi Sign, and the Knights of Columbus Islands Council, according to a representative from the Georgia Blind Sports Association.
