Ontario’s largest annual goalball competition is always a landmark event and this year’s was a great success! The 2018 Provincial/Eastern Canadian Goalball Championships took place on the first weekend of March at the W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in Brantford. Seventeen teams brought a total of seventy athletes from all over Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia to join in on a truly special weekend. The event included a jam-packed bracket which resulted in an awesomely competitive experience. A job well done to all of the athletes who endured an intense weekend of goalball! Gold Medals were awarded in four separate divisions. Congratulations to the following clubs for taking home GOLD!
Women’s ‘A’: Bytown Scourge
(Whitney B., Gen H., Nathalie C., Diana H.)
Men’s ‘A’: Brantford Honey Badgers
(Nader I., Justin L., Brandon K.)
Mixed Division: Nova Scotia Ship Recs
(Yvon C., John Courtney, Jennifer M., Adam Noble)
Youth Division: Kitchener Rolling Rangers
(Braeden L, Owen L., Hadyn B., Owen P.)
Take a sneak peek into the 2018 OBSA Provincials Championships: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2018/03/04/goalball-players-invade-wrms
Hart, 21, was born with Wagner syndrome, a genetic and progressive disease that causes vision loss. Hart began to lose her sight at age seven and says she endured some 50 operations until she lost her vision completely at 14.
Hart began playing goalball seriously while attending a school for the blind and visually impaired in Brantford. She’s been a member of the provincial team for six years and was named to the provincial senior team two years ago. Recently she was invited to play in the Malmö Lady Intercup in Malmö, Sweden at the end of March.
“Going to Sweden will give the coaches a chance to see me game and hopefully they’ll choose me for the Worlds,” she said.
Read the entire story: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-ultimate-goalball-visually-impaired-algonquin-student-aims-for-2020-paralympics