Canadian women’s goalball players feel no pressure to three peat

By Rachal Fleury

A lot can happen in four years.

That is why women’s goalball player Amy Alsop says there isn’t a lot of pressure for the Canadian team to win its third-straight Paralympic gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympic Games.

"Four years is a long time," she said. "It’s not like we’re defending something that happened last month or last year. We’re going to go out there and do the things we need to do to be successful. We’re going to take it one game at a time."

The Canadian women’s goalball team is ranked first in the world heading into Beijing and is led by veterans Alsop, Contessa Scott and Nancy Morin. The threesome, all two-time gold medalists from Sydney and Athens, are joined by Athens gold medalist Annette Lisabeth and first-time Paralympians Amy Kneebone and Shawna Ryan.

Goalball is a fast-paced Paralympic sport played by athletes with a visual impairment. Played three on three on a volleyball-size court, players track the ball by sound as they defend blistering shots upwards of 80 kilometers per hour.

As a new member of the team, Ryan stated she doesn’t feel extra pressure either.

"I’m working with such a talented group of girls and I have so much confidence in them and in my ability to work hard," she noted. "We have the attitude that we start out every game strong, and every game is played with the same intensity no matter what. I just want to do everything I can to not only support the team, but also contribute to a third time win."

Ryan was introduced to goalball by Alsop when they met at a social function five years ago. They both live in Saskatchewan. Intrigued by the "wacky" sport Alsop had described, Ryan decided to check it out.

"It was very confusing, but very fun," Ryan said of her first goalball practice. "I’d never experienced anything like it before in my life."

Now, just a few short years after taking up the sport, she is heading to the Paralympic Games to compete.

"It’s all happened so fast," Ryan said. "I’m excited and honoured to be involved with such an elite group. It’s becoming more and more real as we get closer to leaving."

For Alsop, playing a role in Ryan reaching the Paralympic Games is a bonus.

"I feel so great that I will have been instrumental in someone getting involved in sport and getting to the Paralympic Games," said Alsop. "To think that I had a hand in getting Shawna there is very, very cool."

Alsop is also excited about seeing Ryan and other newcomer Kneebone experience the magic of the Paralympic Games.

"If everyone has gone before, it isn’t something new anymore," she stated. "When you see a couple of teammates experience it for the first time, it is like you’re experiencing it for the first time."

And despite the fact that one-third of the six-member team are Paralympic first timers, Alsop feels the team’s chances at a three-peat are good.

"Each time we go (to the Paralympic Games) the competition gets tougher and tougher, but based on our last training camp, I’m quite confident we’ll be able to contend," she said.

Ryan will have a big personal following in Beijing as her husband, mother, sister and brother-in-law will be cheering her on. Alsop, on the other hand, has told her family and friends to stay home.

"No one’s been there the past two times and it’s worked out pretty well," she said. "Why mess with a good thing?"

The biggest competition for the Canadians is expected to come from the Chinese and the Americans.