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Australian goalball's proud history

A national goalball competition has been held in Australia annually since 1981 for senior men and senior women.  A junior/youth division was added in 1993, though not included every year due to lack of numbers.  The year 2011 saw the start of the 3.5 day national championship use two halls for competition.  Numbers of teams and players in each division have fluctuated through the years, and from 2015, saw four divisions: mens, womens, youth and junior divisions. 

Our milestones

  • Goalball commenced in Australia in 1980, in NSW and Victoria; with Queensland in 1982, the Australian Capital Territory in 2000, and Western Australia in 2010.
  • Meetings were called in 1986 and 1987 to promote and discuss the formation of a national goalball association and a steering committee, headed by Nick Gleeson from Victoria, was formed on 4 April 1987.  The first committee of the Australian National Goalball Association (ANGA) was formed in January 1988 with Bailey Compton (NSW) as president. The name was changed to Goalball Australia in 1999.
  • There are four current full members of Goalball Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia.  Tasmania joined in 1991 but the membership did not continue. ACT joined as an associate member in 2001.
  • Goalball Australia (formerly ANGA) joined ABSF (Australian Blind Sports Federation) in 1988. ABSF is now Blind Sports Australia (BSA). 
  • The first international goalball tournament organised in Australia was the Oceania Goalball Championships in Sydney in 1989.
  • The first Australian goalball team to compete in a World Championships was in 1986, in Roermond, Nederlands.
  • The first Australian goalball team to compete in a Paralympic Games was in 1980 in Amsterdam, Nederlands.
  • New Zealand entered a men’s team in the 2003 National Championships in Canberra, being the first international team to compete in the Australian Championships.
  • At the 2009 annual general meeting of Goalball Australia, Terry Kenaghan received the first 'Life membership' in Australian Goalball 'for his single handed efforts in bringing goalball to Australia and his continuing work over more than 20 years'.
  • Creation of ascribing a player number for senior Australian representative athletes in 2021. 

Past national championships

Year No. Host Location Men
(1st, 2nd)
Women
(1st, 2nd)
1981 1st NSW Sydney NSW NSW
1982 2nd     NSW NSW
1983 3rd     NSW NSW
1984 4th Vic Melbourne (Melbourne University) NSW NSW
1985 5th ACT Canberra NSW, Vic NSW, Vic
1986 6th SA Adelaide NSW, Vic NSW, Vic
1987 7th NSW Sydney (NSW Academy, Narrabeen) NSW, Vic NSW, Vic
1988 8th Vic Melbourne (Monash University, Clayton) NSW, Vic NSW
1989 9th Qld Brisbane (QE II Stadium) NSW, Vic Vic, NSW
1990 10th Vic Melbourne (Lilydale Youth Club) Vic, NSW NSW, Vic
1991 11th Qld Gold Coast (Labrador State School) Vic, Qld NSW, Vic
1992 12th NSW Sydney (Hornsby Recreation Centre) Vic, Qld Vic, Qld
1993 13th Vic Melbourne (Lilydale Youth Club) Qld, Vic Vic, NSW
1994 14th Qld Brisbane (Chandler Sports Complex) Vic, Qld Vic-Q, NSW
1995 15th NSW Sydney (Parklea) Vic, Qld Qld, NSW
1996 16th Vic Ballarat (Ballarat Grammar, Wendouree) Qld, NSW NSW, Qld
1997 17th Qld Brisbane (Nudgee College) Qld, NSW Vic-Q, NSW
1998 18th NSW Sydney (University of Western Sydney, Cumberland) Vic, NSW NSW, Vic-Q
1999 19th Vic Melbourne (Vision Foundation, Coburg) Qld, NSW Vic-Q, NSW
2000 20th Qld Brisbane (Redlands PCYC) Vic, NSW  
2001 21st NSW Sydney (Tara Anglican School for Girls) Vic, Qld NSW, Qld-Vic
2002 22nd Vic Melbourne (Xavier College, Hawthorne) Qld, Vic NSW-Vic, Qld
2003 23rd ACT Canberra (Australian Institute of Sport) Qld, Vic Qld, NSW
2004 24th Qld Gold Coast (Cararra football club) Qld, NZ NSW, Qld
2005 25th NSW Sydney (Penrith Panthers Leagues Club) Vic, Qld NSW-Vic, Qld
2006 26th ACT Canberra (Belconnen Basketball Stadium) Qld, Vic Qld, Vic-NSW
2007 27th Vic Melbourne (Wesley College, Prahan)   Qld, Composite
2008 28th Qld Brisbane (Southbank TAFE College) Qld, Auckland Qld, Auckland
2009 29th Vic Melbourne (Kew State High School) Qld, NSW Qld, NSW
2010 30th Qld Brisbane (Lang Park PCYC) Qld, NSW/ACT Qld, NSW
2011 31st NSW Sydney (Parramatta, The King’s School) Qld, Vic Qld, NSW
2012 32nd Vic Melbourne (Collingwood College) NSW, Qld Qld, NSW
2013 33rd WA Perth (Mercy College) Qld, NSW Qld, NSW
2014 34th SA Adelaide (Brighton College) NSW, Qld NSW, SA
2015 35th Qld Ipswich (Ipswich Girls Grammar School) WA, Vic Qld, NSW
2016 36th NSW Sydney (Parramatta, The King’s School) Qld, NSW NSW, Qld
2017 37th Vic Melbourne (Collingwood College)    
2018 38th WA Perth (Perth Modern School)    
2019 39th SA Adelaide (Parafield Gardens)    
2020 (Qld) Not held due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
2021 (NSW) Not held due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
2022 40th Vic Melbourne (University of Melbourne Sports Centre) Qld, NSW NSW, SA
2023 41st WA Perth (Saint Mary's Anglican School, Karrinyup) NSW NSW
2024 42nd SA Adelaide (Parafield Gardens) Qld, NSW SA, NSW
2025 43rd NSW tba