Thirteen men's team's and eight women's club teams are expected to compete. The Michigan Wrecking Crew (men) and Michigan Chaos (women) aim to defend their titles.

Athletes from the U.S. Paralympics Men’s and Women’s National Goalball Team will compete with their club teams and use this tournament as a final tune-up for the IBSA 2006 World Goalball Championships to be held in Spartanburg, S.C., June 26 - July 2. The IBSA World Goalball Championships is a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Competition will be held in the two gyms at the Colorado Springs School for the Deaf and Blind, located on the northwest corner of Pikes Peak and Hancock Street.  Competition times are as follows: 

• Thursday, June 8:                 Preliminary games              6:00- 9:00 p.m.
• Friday, June 9:                      Preliminary games              8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Saturday, June 10:              Qualifying and Semifinals    8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
                                                 Finals                                    2:00pm - 4:00 pm

Goalball is a Paralympic sport played by athletes who are blind and visually impaired. Developed after WWII as a way to keep blinded veterans physically active, it has become the premier team sport for athletes who are blind and visually impaired.  Played competitively by men and women, it is a very fast paced, physically challenging, strategic and exciting game.

For more information on the tournament go to http://www.usaba.org/ and click on the goalball link or contact Ryan Ortiz at rortiz@usaba.org.  

USABA, a member organization of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is a non-profit organization that provides training for blind and visually impaired athletes for competition in nine sports. USABA members range from blind children developing sports skills to elite athletes who train for competitions such as the Paralympic Games, the world's second largest athletic competition that draws more than 4,000 disabled athletes.