Hi Everyone,

We know that our community has missed the social, physical and health benefits of participating in our great game, so we are excited to publish our latest Return to Play guidance.

From today (29th March 2021), goalball is once again allowed to be delivered indoors, where an exemption is in place for ‘organised’ sport for people with a disability, and outdoors, where ‘organised’ outdoor sport is permitted.

As it is our responsibility to ensure the safety of our community, we must be clear with the definition of ‘organised’ in the context of goalball.

Organised goalball definition:Goalball activity formally organised by Goalball UK, a club, public body, qualified instructor, company, or charity, and which follows Goalball UK return to play guidance.’

‘Any informal or self-organised sport can only take place within the legal gathering limits which otherwise apply.’

New Outdoor Activity Guidance

As well as providing the guidance for the community to return to the court safely indoors, we also want to use this opportunity to launch new outdoor activity guidance to support those clubs and individuals who want to be active with a goalball again but are without access to a sports hall.

The outdoor guidance (only) includes a ‘Goalball Giveaway’ to support those looking to be active outdoors. For more information about the giveaway criteria, please visit the link here.

Download Outdoor Activity Guidance, Version 1 by clicking here.

Updated Indoor Guidance

Many of the protocols and procedures remain in place from previous versions. If your club previously returned, we recommend re-reading the guidance in full and updating your COVID-19 risk assessment to ensure you remain compliant as an organised activity deliverer.

At this stage we understand many sports halls may not be open. However, we recommend you getting in touch with your venue to let them know you have national governing body (Goalball UK) guidance that enables you to return if there is an exemption in place for organised sport for people with a disability.

Download Indoor Return to Play Guidance, Version 8 by clicking here. 

Support

We would like to thank everyone for their patience and taking the time to read the latest information. We appreciate that there is a lot here to consider, so if you have any questions or require additional support with your preparations, please do not hesitate to get in touch at covid@goalballuk.com – we are here to help!

We look forward to your pictures and videos of you all enjoying goalball again very soon.

Best wishes,

The Goalball UK team