Goalball is a fun and exciting indoor sport designed especially for players who are blind and visually impaired.

The gym grows quiet. The crowd waits expectantly. All of a sudden, one of the three players at one end of the court fires a ball at the opposing team. The "receiving" team hurl their bodies onto the floor in diving attempts to block the ball. A team member grabs the ball and half-rolls, half-throws it back at the other team. Down go the players on the first team, but the ball whizzes by and scores a point.

The game is goalball, and it is both a fun game and a Paraolympic sport played by blind and visually impaired athletes all over the world. The game is based on simple rules: Roll or throw the ball so that it doesn't go too high or stray too far to the left or right, and get it past the opposing team to score points.

But goalball is anything but simple, and it certainly is not for the fainthearted.

In 1946, Hanz Lorenzen of Austria and Sepp Reindle of Germany invented goalball as a way to help rehabilitate veterans blinded during World War II. The game was first introduced to the world at the 1976 Paralympics in Toronto, Canada, and has been a Paralympic sport ever since.

Goalball is played by two teams of three players each, facing each other across a court nine meters wide and 18 meters long. A heavy string taped to each end of the court marks the area, or zone, the players can use to orient themselves to the court. Each zone has three orientation lines that players use to make sure they are lined up properly.

The goalball weighs three pounds and is the size of a basketball. It has bells inside so players can hear it as it is thrown or rolled.

The object of the game is to throw the ball in such a way that it rolls over the opposing team's goal line. Good goalball players achieve 50 miles an hour or more on their throws. The defensive players listen for the ball, and attempt to block it with their bodies by diving on the floor. Once the ball is stopped, that team takes control of the ball and attempts a throw of their own.

The main defensive player on a team is the center, who is responsible for defending a majority of the court. The center is in the middle of the court in front of the player's zone, and is flanked by the other two team members, called the wings. The wings' job is to score. The center stops the ball and passes it to one of the wings, who throws it back to the other team and tries to get it past the defenders for a point.

There are both men's and women's goalball teams. A full team consists of six players, three starters and three substitutes. All players, regardless of their degree of vision, must wear blindfolds while in the game.

A complete game consists of two ten-minute halves separated by a three-minute intermission. If there is a tie at the end of regulation, the teams play up to two additional three-minute overtime periods, and the first team to score is the winner.

Goalball is one of the most popular sports for the blind. Various tournaments and championships are held each year around the world. The sport continues to grow as schools for the blind throughout the United States form teams and participate in their own tournaments.

Visit the International Blind Sports Association website or the United States Association of Blind Athletes website for more information about goalball.