One election down, another coming up in one month. In one month, Wisconsinites will decide who will challenge current Governor Scott Walker in a recall election. At least one young voter is ready.
I asked the same question at first. Amigo explained the playing techniques, but I still couldn’t picture it. I looked it up online and found out that goalball was developed after WWII as a sport for blind veterans. Today the unique game is part of paralympics, and many schools for blind students have a competitive team.
You may have noticed details about the gear. Players wear hockey shorts, the padded kind, along with knee and elbow pads. All players also wear covered goggles or sleep shades to eliminate any residual vision they might have. The goggles prevent a player with some vision from having an advantage over a totally blind competitor. All players compete totally sightless.
The ball itself is soccer ball size, hollow, with bells inside it. Players track the ball by listening intently. They keep track of their positions on the court by calling for a “tap” – a player to slap the floor. In this photo, Amigo is the right wing. The girl in the middle is the center. Before he rolled the ball, he called, “Center Tap!” and she slapped the floor so he could hear where she was and plan his throw. All this happens quickly; the team must get rid of the ball within ten seconds.
Here goes the throw – or more precisely, a roll. If the ball appears a bit blurry, that’s because Amigo rolled it quickly. In fact, he rolled it so low and so quickly that the bells were effectively silenced – a technique that makes blocking difficult. He scored on this one. Yeah, Amigo!
>Sometimes there are just too many celebrations and commemoration days/weeks/months. This week in my fair city the downtown area and the school district have their version of Disability Awareness. In our neck of the woods, we call it Celebrating Abilities. I’ve had concerns about the way this group has portrayed disabled people as cute, incapable, very needy children. In the past few years they have changed their focus for the better. A few years ago they sponsored a recital that included a blind violinist and a cellist with one arm. Both are very talented musicians.
>We’ve redecorated, courtesy of Amigo. I’ve actually had these up for several weeks, but I didn’t have a picture. Amigo thought the picture would make a good Wordless Wednesday. Oops, I just added words!
I’ll keep them up until they get dusty or until something else comes up. It’s fun to look at evidence of his success every time we come in the room. All in all, he’s a pretty awesome teenager. >
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>”Don’t throw ADA at me; it makes me angry.”
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Me: I’d like to make an appointment to see Doctor DHH (deaf- hard of hearing).
“Why do you try so hard to fit in when you were made to stand out?”
>”Mom, you should write a post about me and wrestling and going to Ohio.”