2016 Rio Paralympics: Aussie Belles making plenty of noise in silent world of goalball

THEY were only confirmed for Rio 10 days out from the opening ceremony. But now the Aussie Belles are making a big impression in the silent world of goalball.

The Aussies are making a noise in the world of goalball.

THE rock music pumps and the Mexican wave rips around Rio’s Future Arena.

The siren blasts to open the first quarter, and the crowd goes... silent.

Yep, silent. Three thousand people, and not a sound. Truly, not since the barman in Bourke told drinkers the keg had run dry has there been such mute anticipation.

But when the key factor in this contest is the tiny jingle of a bell inside a blue basketball-sized ball, pinging from one end of the court to the other, hush is the name of the game.

This is women’s goalball and, for Australia at least, the fairytale yarn of these Paralympic Games.

The Aussies go on the attack.

For just like the Olympic women’s eight rowers, our aptly named Belles weren’t even meant to be here in Rio.

Well, according to world rankings they were. But then the International Paralympic Committee decided it wanted more African nations represented, so they weren’t. Then Russia’s Games ban meant they suddenly were again. Except Russia’s appeal then left the whole shooting match up in the air.

All up, barely 10 days out from the opening ceremony, the Aussies were finally confirmed as the 10th and final team in the 2016 Paralympic goalball tournament.

Such was the hurried preparation, players and staff could not even access the athletes village or Olympic Park precinct until arriving, while express-order uniforms met the team in Rio.

“All we had was a goalball and six girls who really wanted to play,” coach Peter Corr said.

“They’ve turned their lives upside down in five weeks. We’re fighters.”

The Belles opened the door to a quarter-final berth with a 2-2 draw with the Ukraine that marked their first result other than a loss in Paralympic competition.

“To get a draw at the Paralympics with three weeks’ notice, it’s pretty impressive,” player Jennifer Blow said.

“Everyone was like ‘oh, you’re just here to fill a spot’. Well, no, we’re not here just to fill a spot. We’ve filled that spot and gone one step better.”

The Aussies picked up their first point in Paralympic competition against Ukraine.

Goalball is a rare sport aimed exclusively at athletes who are blind or with vision impairment.

Regardless of individual vision, the three players from each side on court wear total black-out goggles, scrutinised by referees before each half.

Players spread themselves across the goal-line effectively serving as a horizontal slips cordon, positioned to minimise the chance of a ball rolled by the opposing team sliding through the defensive line.

From there, it’s a flurry of bowl, listen, dive, block, as attacking players unleash the rock at speeds pushing 60km/h.

“And there’s a few sneaky things you can do,” said Blow, who is classified with vision impairment through oculocutaneous albinism.

“We switch the ball from one corner to the other or change positions, to try to find a new gap.

“If you can curve the ball it masks the sound of the bell a bit, and if you put spin on it can flick up and over the other players, so they’re some of the tricks we try as well.”

The Belles face Canada in their final pool match before a possible quarter-final start later in the week.

Originally published as 2016 Rio Paralympics: Aussie Belles making plenty of noise in silent world of goalball