Help Disabled People be Involved in Sports: China

On the morning of May 29, Lanjingling came to Shanghai School For The Blind (SSB) to donate a batch of professional goalball equipments donated by the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and Turnstone to SSB and Shanghai Goalball Team. ZHAO Jihong, chairwoman of Shanghai Blind Association, and XU Hongmei, principal of SSB attended this event.

Shanghai School For The Blind (SSB) was founded in 1912, is the only school in Shanghai to educate and train children and adolescents who are blind or with visual impairments. It has the longest history of special education in Shanghai and has great influence in China and abroad. In domestic schools for the blind, SSB's system is the most complete one. Internationally, it has established a long-term exchange and cooperation with Parkins School for the Blind and Overbrook School for the Blind (School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in the United States.

USABA was founded in 1976 with the purpose of improving the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired. Today, USABA has evolved into a national orgionazation that provides sports opportunities for every individual with a visual impairment. USABA program serve athletes of all ages and abilities from local grassroots programs to the elite Paralympic level.

Turnstone, founded in 1943, is the only not-for-profit organization with Northeast Indiana that provides a full range of rehabilitative, educational, wellness, athletic, and recreational programs and facilities to persons with disabilities and their families. Its mission is to empower people with disabilities to achieve their highest potential by providing comprehensive service and programs. Turnstone is also the Paralympic Training Site and the National Goalball Team Training Base of the United States. In partnership with USABA, it will co-host the 2019 ISBA Goalball & Judo International Qualifier during June 28th-July 10th this year. The China National Goalball Team will also attend this race.

The beautiful campus of SSB provides a good study and growth environment for children with visual impairements. The history and present of SSB is introduced in the honor wall with braille on it.

The honor wall shows a photo of Ms. Zhao, the current chairwoman of the Shanghai Blind Association, who won the level B3 long jump championship at the New York Paralympic Games in 1984 and broke the century record. Ms. Zhao was one of the first Chinese athletes who won the Paralympic Gold Medal.

Ms. Zhao also participated in today's donation event. The following picture shows a cordial conversation with Chen Xiaobin, a blind trainer of beYoureyeS and a former student from SSB.

From the honor wall, we can see that Bao Daolei, one of the team member from the China Goalball team who won the gold medal in 2018 Beijing Paralympic Games, also came from SSB.

Ken introduced his GSMP experience to Ms. Zhao and Ms. Xu (the principle of SSB), and presended the goalball equipments donated by American friends as precious gift to Ms. Xu and the Shanghai Goalball Team.Then we came to the goalball court, the only training court for goalball athletes in Shanghai. The goalball athletes were training in the court at that moment.

Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded in it into the opponents' goal. The attack and defense are swift and the rhythm is fast. It requires the players to determine their position and direction on the court according to their tactile sense, auditory judgment of the direction and speed of the ball, and rapid response. It is a kind of sport that ball like basketball, goal like football, and movement like bowling.

The Shanghai Goalball Team conducted a drill of goalball game. Meanwhile, Ken showed to Ms. Xu and Ms. Zhao a video of the United States National Goalball Team that was having a training in Turnstone. After watching the game, beYoureyeSers are eager to wear the equipment from the United States National Goalball Team and experience the game. As the live competition is very "intense", so please just imagine it, let's put some pre-match poses here.

Ms. Xu said that Shanghai School for the Blind has been guided by the four-character policy: "Solid Foundation, Prominent Characters, Sound Personality, Adapt to Society."

Lanjingling Yin Hong said when she walked in the school, some students were walking along the blind track and heard them passing by, they stopped to say hello to the direction of the voice. This politeness impressed her deeply.

Finally, let's end with a group photo that every one is smile and close eyes in the goalball court. In 2017, with the support from Nike, beYoureyeS and "Flying Man" Liu Xiang came to SSB to help the visually impaired children participate in the first children's marathon. In 2019, beYoureyeS give the goalball equipments donated by USABA and Turnstone to SSB. We have been working hard to create a sports accessibility environment. Looking forward to further exchanges and cooperation between beYoureyeS and SSB in the future, with sports as the medium, to create a future in which everyone can enjoy sports, live on an equal footing and be full of hope.