Category Archives: Update

Update

Nova Scotia Boys & Girls Compete in Canadian National Junior Goalball Championships this Weekend

We’re proud to announce Nova Scotia’s boys and girls ‪goalball teams are in Alberta this weekend to represent at the 2016 Canadian National Junior Goalball Championships! Check us out on Facebook for updates and results.  Click here to watch & listen LIVE!

This is the first time in Nova Scotia history we have a junior boys team on the roster and third year having a girls team. We are one of only three provinces to have both junior boys and junior girls teams.

First game is at 12:20 Atlantic time, with our boys taking on Quebec. Here’s today’s Schedule:
boys 12:20pm Quebec vs Nova Scotia
girls 2:00pm Alberta vs Nova Scotia
boys 3:40pm British Columbia vs Nova Scotia
girls 5:20pm British Columbia vs Nova Scotia
boys 6:10pm Ontario vs Nova Scotia
girls 7:50pm Ontario vs Nova Scotia

 

Events, NEWS, Update

USA White wins the first annual Nova Scotia Open!

USA White beat USA Red 10 – 7 to capture gold and win the Nova Scotia Open Goalball Tournament. Alberta won the bronze medal defeating Team nova Scotia in the dying seconds of the game to win 4 – 3!

Blind Sports nova Scotia would like to send out a huge thank you to all of the volunteers and sponsors who made our first open tournament possible. We’ll see you all next year when we make this tournament even bigger and better!

Update

Come and try Dragon Boat racing!

Dragon Boat for Blind and Partially Sighted Athletes

Are you interested in trying a new sport and challenging yourself? If so, join a dragon boat team specifically for blind and partially sighted individuals for the 2016 Dragon Boating Season. A dragon boat team consists of 20 paddlers sitting two abreast, plus a Cox who steers the dragon boat from the rear and a drummer who sits at the front. Teams can be all men, all women, or mixed crews. Timing, strength and endurance are 3 key elements of a successful team, the fourth and most critical is teamwork.

Dragon boating is a natural sport for people who are blind or visually impaired–it requires hard work, endurance and dedication, but not sight! It is one of the very few sports in which persons who are blind or visually impaired can participate and compete successfully on an equal basis with sighted peers, without any adaptation. Timing of paddling is more important than strength of the individual paddlers, making it a great team sport. The sport provides opportunity for competition, recreation, exercise and socialization. It is an exciting, fulfilling and physically demanding sport–a lot of hard work and a great deal of fun! It is the fastest growing sport in the world today, with a growing number of blind and partially-sighted teams.

The Dartmouth Dragon Boat Association would like to determine if there is enough interest in our community to establish a team for blind and partially-sighted athletes. We are hosting a free trial on Saturday 19th September 2015, from 2PM to 4PM at the Graham’s Grove Park in Dartmouth. This is an excellent opportunity to get in the boat and give it a try.

Numbers are required prior to the event so sufficient boats and volunteers are available. This is open to anyone who is interested, including supporters. Life Jackets and paddles are provided. Wear weather appropriate clothing. It is a water sport so you may get wet. Jeans or any other heavy clothing is not advisable. Change rooms and washrooms are on site.

If you are interested in attending please contact info@dragonboateast.ca.

Update

Nova Scotia athletes make Junior Goalball National teams

Mason Smith and Tarah Sawler are the first two Nova Scotians ever to make the Canadian junior goalball national boys and girls teams.  They will represent Canada at the International Blind Sports Association’s (IBSA) World Youth Games in Colorado Springs, Colorado from July 28th to the 31st.
Tarah, 16 years old from Dartmouth, led the Nova Scotia junior girls to the bronze medal at the junior nationals in Brantford, ON in March.  She is in her second year of goalball and also plays for the Nova Scotia Senior Women’s’ team.  Mason, 15 years old from Middleton, achieved the rare feat of winning both junior and senior Mens’ national titles this season and has been named to the junior boys national team in just his first year of goalball.
Linda MacRae Triff from Dartmouth was selected by the Canadian Blind Sports Association (CBSA) to coach the junior boys national team at this year’s tournament.  MacRae-Triff, who also coaches the Nova Scotia Senior Men’s and Women’s teams has also coached the Junior girls team from the beginning of the programs short two year existence.
Nova Scotia men’s goalball athlete and junior assistant coach, Peter Parsons from Halifax will be the assistant coach for the Canadian junior boys and girls teams.  Parsons says: “It is a testament to the strength of Nova Scotia’s new Junior Goalball program that both Tarah and Mason have been selected by CBSA to be a part of Canada’s World Junior teams.”  Parsons, who is an Orientation & mobility Specialist with the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority works with  visually impaired youth in the province and is familiar with the unique challenges that they face:    “Organized sports can be a challenge for visually impaired youth.  Junior Goalball is a great way to promote acceptance and active lifestyles from an early age.”  Parsons adds that the success of our boys and girls Junior program bodes well for the  future of Goalball in Nova Scotia: “We’re just getting started and I’m really excited to see where both our Junior and Senior programs go in the next few years!”
Goalball is a Paralympic sport that was created after WWII for blinded veterans. It is a team sport played by athletes who are blind or visually impaired.  Played on a volleyball sized court on a gym floor with goals at either end spanning the entire back line, two teams of three players compete by throwing a ball along the floor and into the opposite team’s goal.  The opposing team attempts to physically block the ball from crossing the goal line. Because players can have different levels of vision, all participants are blindfolded to create a level playing field as they listen for the goalball, which has bells in it.
Update

I’m seeing double… Double Gold!

Simon Richard/Mason Smith with their Junior and Senior Goalball Natoals Gold medalsSimon Richard (left) and Mason Smith (right) display their double gold medals that they won at both the junior boys and senior men’s national goalball championships this year.  They won national titles with the New Brunswick junior boys in March and the Nova Scotia Senior men in April which make them two of a small handful of players ever to achieve this rare feat of winning junior and senior national titles in the same season.  In his first year of goalball, Mason made the junior boys national team and is training for the IBSA World Youth Games in Colorado Springs from July 28th to the 31st.  Simon, MVP of the junior and seniror nationals, will be playing for the men’s national team at the Para Pan Am games in Toronto from August 8th to the 15th.  Good luck boys!

Update

Tarah Sawler has been selected for Team Canada at the Junior Goalball World Championships this July!

Blind Sports Nova Scotia is very proud that our very own Tarah Sawler from Dartmouth has been selected to be a member of Team Canada at the Junior Goalball World Championships in Colorado this July.  Making this even more impressive is that this is only Tarah’s second season playing Goalball.  Congratulations Tarah and bring home the Gold for Canada! Continue reading Tarah Sawler has been selected for Team Canada at the Junior Goalball World Championships this July! →