By Jessica
Minneci
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| Three players crouch in front of goals at the ready. Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind |
When he was a sophomore in high school, Muhammad began
playing goalball as part of an outreach program through The Maryland School for
the Blind. His two coaches were adapted
physical education and health teachers Matt Mescall and Bev Marhevka. Coach Mescall and coach Marhveka taught
Muhammad and his friend, Tim Utzig, a great deal about goalball, including the
fact that every player must be open to playing all three positions: left wing,
right wing, and center.
"I'll admit I started off playing the right wing
position," Muhammad said.
"However, that has changed.
I'm capable of playing all three positions and I just do what coach asks
and what the team asks.” In this way, Muhammad became a more flexible athlete
and does what he can to support his team.
After high
school, Tim and Muhammad enrolled at Towson University. Following coach Mescall’s suggestion,
Muhammad asked the staff of Disability Support Services about starting a
team. The staff connected Muhammad with
Jeff Keenan, the assistant director of competitive sports in the Campus Recreation
department. Jeff guided Muhammad and Tim through the necessary steps to form a
team with Matt Mescall from The Maryland School for the Blind as the head
coach.
To generate interest in the sport, Towson hosted an
intramural goalball event. Having doubts about the success of this event,
Muhammad recalled, "I basically thought it wasn't going to work because
goalball is a visually impaired sport...
and Towson is a sighted person school." Fortunately, those who
attended the event seemed interested in the sport, causing the team to move
forward with their plans to start a goalball club.
By the end
of the fall 2016 semester, Towson had an official goalball club. Muhammad was
elected club president with Tim Utzig as vice president. A secretary, Olivia
Chapman, and a treasurer, Caitlin Morrell, were also elected. Afterwards, the
four went to meetings to learn how to manage their club budget, submit budget
and facility requests, plan events, and find two safety and facility officers.
The fun begins with goalball practice at Towson once a
week. There are times when practice has
to be canceled, however, because there are not enough players. In order to meet the requirement for a sports
club at Towson, 10 people have to sign a waver.
The problem that the team runs in to is that people sign the waver but
don't show up to practice. In the
beginning, 3 to 6 out of the 10 people that signed the waver regularly went to
practice. Now, the team roster consists
of 10 to 12 players with 6 to 8 people showing up to practice. Muhammad hopes that, "We can get, one
day, everybody who signed a waver to consistently come to practice." A
co-educational team, there is about the same number of male and female players.
There are also two visually impaired players.
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| Three players slide across the floor to protect their goals from the oncoming ball. Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind |
When the team does practice, the players work vigorously
under coach Mescall’s instruction. As Mescall also coaches down at The Maryland
School for the Blind, the Towson team occasionally practices with their high
school team. These practices give the younger students "more college
exposure" as the Towson team can advise the other students based on their
own college experiences. Muhammad also encourages the students, telling them
that "they can go to any university or anywhere and they can continue
playing goalball after graduating from school for the blind."
The players
also host or attend different goalball meets, one on one matches at other
universities. In the spring, Towson Goalball participates in the National
Collegiate Goalball Championship, which is a tournament between multiple
university goalball teams. In 2017, Towson's players went to Slippery Rock
University to compete in the championship.
Out of about 10 or 11 teams, Towson earned fifth place with Slippery
Rock winning first place. "For our first semester club, we thought that
was pretty good," Muhammad said.
In 2018, Towson hosted the championship. Unfortunately, only four teams were able to
attend. Through coach Mescall’s connections, coach Matt Boyle, the head coach
of the Men's Paralympic Goalball Team for Team USA, helped organize and
officiate the championship. He also brought goalball goals to the campus. "When
there's some downtime, occasionally, he'll even give us some pointers,"
Muhammad said. Coach advises the team on
how to roll the ball and how to slide and dive. He speaks on topics such as
form, technique, offense, and defense.
Others
can connect with Towson Goalball on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
@tugoalball. "I'm also in the
process of trying to help start other programs at other universities... I am working with people at Syracuse
University to see if they're interested and Norfolk State University in
Virginia has shown some interest in starting a program," Muhammad
explained. Muhammad opens lines of communication with these schools via phone
calls and emails from the team's email address, tugoalball@gmail.com. On top of
that, Muhammad provides advice for existing teams that are struggling.
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| One player about to hurtle the ball back toward their opponents. Photo credit Dotty Raynor, The Maryland School for the Blind |
During
his next two years at Towson, Muhammad hopes that the team can grow and that
they "can have a men's goalball team and a women's goalball team." To
help achieve this goal, Towson is celebrating National Blind Sports Day with an
intramural goalball tournament on Friday October 5th where anyone can come play
goalball.
Muhammad Waheed is a junior at Towson University. He is
majoring in mass communication and is on the track of journalism and new
media. A determined individual, he does
not let his visual impairment stop him from achieving success. Before
graduation in 2020, Muhammad and Tim want to find other students to continue to
manage the Towson goalball team. Upon graduation, Muhammad said, "I want
to go into the field of journalism and...
find a job within the industry.
I'd also like to stay involved with goalball, whether that's coaching, playing,
or helping develop new programs."
Jess Minneci is a senior at Seton Hill University and an intern at APH. She is a three-time National Braille Challenge participant and has previously volunteered with ACB. She is a poet and aspiring novelist who enjoys filming youtube videos about young adult novels and spending time with her guide dog Joyce.
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