Robert Sanchez, new Goalball Club president and sophomore, talks with Alexandra Lawburg ‘17, former Goalball Club member and alumna, about club developments. Sanchez said, at some point, he wants the club to participate in a bigger goalball tournament this year.

According to Goalball Club sponsor Dave Romano, the club will be on a short hiatus due to his district commitments; however, he said Robert Sanchez, new Goalball Club president and sophomore, has already started to prepare for the 2017-2018 season.

“I plan on doing the first meeting and hopefully pulling in new members and teaching them how to play,” Sanchez said. “I had some ideas for teaching newer players, just focusing on teaching them for a little bit longer on navigation and building up their skills.”

Romano and Sanchez both said the location of the club will remain the same if at all possible, but depending on the club members, the meeting dates may vary.

While Sanchez is mainly focusing on building the CHS club, Romano said he also wants to expand by creating a club at Carmel Middle School and merging the two entities in some way.

In other news about Indiana goalball developments, Romano said former club members have also started goalball programs in Purdue, Ball State and IUPUI, all of which can compete in the new national collegiate goalball tournaments. Furthermore, Turnstone Center in Ft. Wayne is creating a women’s program in addition to its US Men’s Goalball Paralympic training program.

“(This) will certainly provide some opportunities for blind/low vision athletes across the nation, especially in Indiana,” Romano said.