Utah
Foundation for the Blind &
Visually Impaired
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Utah and the Utah Foundation for the Blind are developing a tradition of quality goalball. We are proud to bring you the following "Goalball Classic" excerpts from previous years.
The
UTAH
EXPLOSION has arrived
"Every goalball team spends
countless hours practicing for the “what ifs.” For
example: “What if you find yourself in
With the game tied at four against the Michigan Spitfire, the overtime rounds began. First two three-minute overtime periods without a score. In the first shootout period, the Michigan Spitfire took an early lead with a goal by Carl Love (Wayne, Mich.) before Lewis Burdette (Myton, Utah) scored for Utah with a shot past J.J. Meddaugh (Saginaw, Mich.) Following the first shootout, both teams went into a sudden death shootout where Love began the lineup with a score against Paralympian Chris Dodds (Myton, Utah). Dodds answered with a goal on Love. As each of the remaining four players were held scoreless at the end of the period, a second sudden death shootout was in order. This time, Dodds scored on Love for a second time and managed to block Love’s return shot, securing the win, 6-5. “By the time you get to what is essentially the fifth overtime period, players, coaches and fans are very wound up with the intensity of play and the drama of the moment,” said Utah Coach Tony Jepson (Riverton, Utah). “Every throw, every block, is a nail-biting play. What more could anybody want from any sporting event? It was an exciting and classic ending to the tournament.” In the women’s gold medal game, Utah soundly
defeated the Bay Area Outreach Program (BORP), 14-7. Led by Trisha Chase
(Murray, Utah), who won both Best Defensive and Best Offensive Play awards, the
Utah Women’s Goalball Team was undefeated during the tournament, outscoring its
opponents, 59-24." Yes, our Utah Women's team went UNDEFEATED at the tournament. Way to play ladies!!! Both the Utah Mens and Women's teams will be competing at the US National Championships in Colorado Springs the end of June.
Above: Utah Men (Chris Dodds, Quintin Williams, Lewis Burdette) and Utah Women (Marnie David, Rachel Jepson, Amanda Carrigan, Trisha Chase,Heather Curtis) along with coaches Chris Clark and Tony Jepson swept first place at the 2005 Western Regional Goalball Tournament. UTAH GIRLS BRING HOME THE GOLD (From October 2005) For the
first time, our Utah high school girls' goalball team came home from the U.S.
National Championship Five girls,
Cathy
Morgan,
Heidi Cox,
Lauren Greer,
Morgan Oxborrow, and
Trisha Chase, left Salt Lake very early
the morning of October 20th and arrived in St. Augustine, FL at 8:30 pm. They
went immediately to play their first match at 8:45 against Michigan. Despite the
long travel day, jet lag, a flight delay, and no rest, the girls won their first
match. That began the most successful showing ever of a Utah girl's goalball
team. The Utah girls dominated the tournament with an undefeated record of eight
wins, no losses, and one tie. They also ended up in a shootout for seeding where
they defeated Florida 3-0.
A special congratulations goes to Trisha Chase who was named the tournament MVP. We are very proud of these girls who played hard and gave everything they had to win the national championship.
Yes, our boys' team participated in the tournament too. They played well and performed better than their record showed. The boys' team comprised of Chris Morgan, Lewis Burdette, Mark Woodard and Stephen Shaffer had a record of 1-5 although several of their losses were very close matches.
(From
June 2006)
Utah's
men's goalball team, the Utah Explosion, was one
There was
little to to savor the victory however as Utah prepared to meet the
pre-tournament favorite and undefeated team from Florida. The gold medal match
We are very grateful for the generous contributions of our goalball sponsors who help make this program available. Goalball sponsors for 2007 include: The
Moran Eye Center
Utah Foundation for the
Blind and Visually Impaired
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tournament with a first place trophy in hand. "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!"
of ten men's goalball teams in the USA invited to the National
Championships in June. These are the best teams in the country and we knew going
in that the tournament was going to be very, very competitive. We also knew that
our Utah Team comprised of Lewis Burdette, Chris Dodds, Nick Gasaway, Matt
Hines, and Quintin Williams, had trained hard and had the skills and desire to
do well. 
championship four of the last six years. After an all out, and exhausting
struggle, the Explosion came out on top with a 3-2 victory launching them into
the gold medal match later that afternoon. Chris Dodds scored two of Utah's
goals and Quintin Williams added another in the team's biggest victory to date.
a 
was
a thriller. Utah scored quickly on a throw by Nick Gasaway but there was no
pulling away from Florida. Even though Gasaway scored a second goal and Chris
Dodds added two more the first half, Florida put in three goals of their own and
Utah had a very slim 4-3 lead at halftime. Both teams knew everything depended
on the second half. Both teams toughened up defensively blocking ball after
ball. A critical point came when Dodds was called for a high ball but he
successfully blocked the penalty shot that was thrown down the left sideline.
That was it! No goals scored by either team the second half! Utah won their
first men's championship. Congratulations guys. The competition was very, very
tough, and you hung in there and did it!