The men’s preliminary round-robin is complete and the women only have 2 games left to play after the end of day 2 at the 2011 Canadian Blind Sports National Goalball Championships. The event runs from May 13 – 15 and is being hosted by Blind Sports Nova Scotia at the Citadel High School and Community Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

The BC men took the first step towards defending their 2010 National Championship Title by finishing 1st in the round-robin while recording 5 wins no loses and no ties. The Quebec men finished second with a record of 3 – 1 – 1, while Alberta finished 3rd with a record of 2 – 1 – 2, and tournament newcomers New Brunswick finished 4th with a record of 1 – 3 – 1 to round out the semi-finalists. BC will play New Brunswick in the 1 vs 4 semi, while Quebec will take on Alberta in a rematch of their 2 – 2 tie. Both games are at 11:45 am tomorrow. The Ontario All-Blacks finished the round-robin in 5th with hometown Nova Scotia in 6th with identical 1 – 4 records, however the All-Blacks beat Nova Scotia the first time around. They will face off in the 5th place match at 9:55 am. The women’s round-robin is incomplete as there are still 2 games to play tomorrow morning. The 3 time defending champions – the Ontario Trillium are poised to once again finish at the top of the standings as they lead with a 4 – 0 – 1 record and most likely cannot be caught. 

The other 3 semi-final spots are still up for grabs depending on the outcome of tomorrow mornings games. Alberta currently sits in 2nd place with a record of 4 – 2 – 0 and will qualify for the semi-finals, however which position is still very much up for grabs. BC, the Ontario Deuces and Quebec are all jockeying for the other 2 spots making tomorrow morning’s game of the utmost importance. At 9:00 am Quebec plays the Ontario Trillium, while the Ontario Deuces play BC. Saskatchewan will finish the round-robin in 6th place as they currently sit with a record of 1 – 4 – 1 and they will wait to find out their opponent for the 5th place game occurs at 10:50am. Host Nova Scotia entered their women’s team in the National Championships as the team’s second ever tournament, and tall the athletes showed marked improvement with each match. They finish in 7th place. Media and the public are welcome to come attend all of the finals games which run from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm tomorrow Sunday May 15th. The medals start with the men’s bronze at 1:45 pm, followed by the women’s bronze at 2:40, the men’s gold at 3:35pm, and the women’s gold at 4:30pm. 

Video and audio play-by-play of gym 2 is available at courtesy of the Audio Network and Ben from Alberta at http://www.pressakey.net/sports/index.php. It will also feature the medal games. 

More information about the Paralympic Sport of Goalball is available at www.canadianblindsports.ca with a short promotional video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sjoe5yD7TI. 

Canadian Blind Sports is the recognized national sports organization for Goalball in Canada and advocates within the sport system on behalf of Canadians who are blind / visually impaired. Goalball is a fast-paced, Paralympic sport played by athletes who have a visual impairment or who are blind. Played three on three on a volley-ball size court, players track the ball by sound as they throw and defend blistering shots upwards of 80 kilometers per hour. 

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For more information on the Canadian Blind Sports Association please visit:www.canadianblindsports.ca. 

For more information please contact: 
Matt Morrow 
Participation Director / 
Communications 

Canadian Blind Sports / Sports Aveugles Canada 
#325 - 5055 Rue Joyce Street, 
Vancouver, BC V5R 6B2 Canada 
Telephone/ Téléphone : 604 419-0480 
Toll Free / Sans frais: 1-877-604-0480 
Mobile / Cellulaire: 604 812-6786 
Fax/ Télécopieur : 604 419-0481 

www.canadianblindsports.ca / www.sportsaveuglescanada.ca.