Canadian Men's and Women's Goalball Teams Competing at the 2010 IBSA Goalball
World Championships

Canadian Women Enter Tournament as Defending 2006 World Champions; Men Ranked 5th in the World

SHEFFIELD, England, June 22 /CNW/ - Action kicked off Sunday at the 2010 International Blind Sports Federation's (IBSA) Goalball World Championships in Sheffield, England. This is the 9th World Championships for the Paralympic sport of Goalball, and features the top 16 men's teams and top 12 women's teams on the planet. The event features 4 days of round robin competition, followed by the quarter and semi-final matches on Thursday June 24th, and the medal matches on Friday June 25th.

After 2 days of competition the Canadian Blind Sports National Women's Goalball Team have got off to a strong start and are 2 - 0 as they try to defend their 2006 World Championship Title. The Canadian women have demonstrated their offensive prowess beating Israel 5 - 1 and Australia 5 - 2, with 4 of the 6 Canadian Team members making their World Championships debut.

"The team was anxious to get the tournament started and I am happy with the win," said Canadian Blind Sports High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson. "We followed our game plan by focusing on defense and patience. I managed to get everyone some court time and each player contributed to the win."

No country's National Women's Goalball Team has had more success this past decade than Canada. Canadian Women's Goalball Teams won gold medals at both the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, as well as a silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2002 IBSA Goalball World Championships, and gold at the 2006 Spartanburg IBSA World Championships. Over the course of that time many great talents have been part of the Canadian National Team, and the newest version of the squad will look to close out the decade by defending their title at the 2010 World Championships.

"We're looking forward to a great World Championships coming off our win in the 2010 Malmo Lady Intercup (in May)," said Coach Janice Dawson. "We're confident in our abilities and know what we need to do to win. Solid defense and patience will be key for us. Our mix of experience and youth is a definite asset."

The Canadian Blind Sports Women's National Goalball Team for the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships is:

Amy Kneebone (Ottawa, ON)

Nancy Morin (Longueil, QC)

Whitney Burk (Ottawa, ON)

Shawn Marsolais (New Westminster, BC)

Cassie Orgeles (St. Catharines, ON)

Jillian MacSween (Halifax, NS)

High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson (Calgary, AB)

Women's Coach Annie Pouliot (Gatineau, QC)

The Canadian Blind Sports National Men's Goalball Team enters the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships ranked 5th in the world in a sport played by more than 100 countries worldwide. The Canadian men started out the tournament going 1 - 1 on Sunday after they ran into a surprisingly strong Algerian Team, and then fell to a 1 - 3 record after losses to the two top ranked competitors in the tough Pool A.

"After a good start in game one (against Algeria), some penalty problems late in the first half set us back and we couldn't overcome that setback," said Canadian Blind Sports Men's Coach Danny Snow. "Doug Ripley had his first court time at Worlds and performed well."

After falling to Algeria 6 - 4, the men rebounded with a 5 - 3 victory over host nation Great Britain, where Brendan Gaulin scored his first goal at the World Championships level. The men knew that Monday was going to be a tough day as they had to face the two top seeds in pool A; first losing to the USA 11 - 4, and then the 2008 Paralympic gold medalists from China 7 - 3.

"The Men played very well (against China)," said Coach Snow, "they put up a strong team effort showing great promise for the rest of the tournament."

The Canadian Men only have 1 game tomorrow against Denmark, and then close out the round robin against the surprisingly strong Iranian squad, and then Germany on Wednesday.

The Canadian Blind Sports men's National Goalball Team for the 2010 IBSA Goalball World Championships is:

Mario Caron (St-Eustache, QC)

Brendan Gaulin (Vancouver, BC)

Bruno Haché (Dorval, QC)

Doug Ripley (New Westminster, BC)

Jeff Christy (Ottawa, ON)

Simon Tremblay (Val-Bélair, QC)

High Performance Head Coach Janice Dawson (Calgary, AB)

Men's Coach Danny Snow (Calgary, AB)

Canadian results will be available daily, and a final recap of all the action will be available at the tournament's end at www.canadianblindsports.ca.

The official website for the event is www.worldgoalball2010.com. Results are being posted regularly through the event's Twitter account at http://twitter.com/worldgoalball.

The Audio Sports Network's Bill Teale will be providing live play-by-play throughout the event at http://pressakey.net/wc2010/

More information about the Paralympic Sport of Goalball is available at www.canadianblindsports.ca with a short promo video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sjoe5yD7TI.

Canadian Blind Sports is the recognized national sports organization for Goalball in Canada and advocates within the sport system on behalf of Canadians who are blind/visually impaired.

Goalball is a fast-paced, Paralympic sport played by athletes who have a visual impairment or who are blind. Played three on three, on a volley-ball size court, players track the ball by sound as they throw and defend blistering shots upwards of 80 kilometers per hour.

For more information on the Canadian Blind Sports Association please visit: www.canadianblindsports.ca.

For further information: Matt Morrow, Canadian Blind Sports, Participation Director/Communications, 604.812-6786 mobile, 604.410.0480 office, [email protected]