CARLSBAD — San Diego County residents with visual impairments now have a local recreational sports team tailored to their needs, as the sport of goalball officially makes its debut in North County.
Goalball, a sport developed specifically for the blind and visually impaired, originated in 1946 when Austrian Hanz Lorenzen and German Sett Reindle created the game to help World War II veterans who lost their sight remain physically active.
Today, the sport is played competitively in at least 112 countries and is considered the premier team sport for visually impaired athletes.
In goalball, all players wear vision-blocking blinders, regardless of their level of visual impairment, to ensure a level playing field. The game is played in silence, as athletes use their sense of hearing to track a ball filled with bells and attempt to block it from crossing their goal line.
Despite its international popularity, goalball has been absent from the San Diego region for years. Local athletes have often had to travel to Los Angeles or beyond to participate — until now.
La Costa residents Neal and Lori Meyers launched the San Diego Goalball team after their son, Michael, lost his vision and discovered the sport during a sabbatical in Denver.
Michael, a graduate of La Costa Canyon High School and San Diego State University, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disorder that gradually causes vision loss. He began losing his sight in high school and was granted a six-month leave from work to attend a center for the visually impaired in Colorado.
During his time there, Michael was introduced to goalball and quickly developed an interest in it. But after returning home, he found there were no local teams.
Seeing their son’s enthusiasm, Neal and Lori set out to create a team in North County. They began recruiting players at events like the San Diego Vision Walk, and by spring, the team started practicing at Stagecoach Community Center in La Costa.
“It’s been unbelievable,” Neal said. “We started maybe five months ago and things have been organically happening. It’s one of those, ‘if you build it, they will come,’ kind of things – and they did.”
The team received support from the Challenged Athletes Foundation. At the same time, the Meyers personally invested time and resources, including Neal’s homemade goal posts crafted from irrigation pipes after “about 20 trips to Home Depot.”
Their efforts soon connected them with Matt Boyle, the former head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Goalball Team, who led the squad to a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Boyle, who relocated to Escondido for work, had been searching for goalball opportunities in San Diego but had found none — until discovering the Meyers’ team online.
“It’s so serendipitous because I was always googling ‘San Diego goalball’ to see if maybe the colleges or someone was doing something, then one day the search results returned,” Boyle said.
“When we first met, we didn’t know what we were doing,” Lori said. “We asked Matt if he wanted to take over, and he said yes.”
Boyle plans to organize both men’s and women’s teams to compete at an upcoming tournament in Los Angeles. So far, about 30 players have signed up for the team, though not all plan to compete.
At a recent practice, Boyle brought in Joseph Hamilton, a Paralympic silver medalist and professional goalball player, to assist in coaching. Hamilton has traveled across the country launching goalball teams and introduced Boyle to the sport 16 years ago.
For Michael and other players, goalball is more than just exercise — it’s a source of fun, community and empowerment.
“It’s fun for me to do because I enjoy working out, but it also helps out people in the blind community to build up a space here,” Michael said. “There are some groups, but there aren’t many for the blind community in San Diego.”
Although Michael said he feels confident navigating groups where he’s the only blind person, he acknowledged that this is not the case for everyone. He hopes the new team will encourage others with visual impairments to participate in sports and build confidence.
For more information or to sign up, contact the Meyers at [email protected].
