Goalball in Cameroon is one of several sports available to people with vision impairments to participate in. It arrived late to the blind sports community in Cameroon, with torball arriving first. It has subsequently, been supported domestically by clubs such as Club for the Blind Youth of Cameroon (CJARC) and PROMHANDICAM Yaounde.

The sport has had been included on the domestic sports calendar, with national competitions taking place in 2006, 2012, and 2014. Cameroon has also been involved with the sport on the international level, with the men playing in the 2007 All-Africa Games and the 2008 African Francophone Games for the Handicapped. The women's team has been invited to participate in several competitions. The country has both men and women players who were classified internationally for the 2016 summer season. Some of these players have also represented Cameroon internationally in athletics.

Club and association support

Goalball was a late arrival to the blind sports community in Cameroon. The sport was introduced in the 2000s. Prior to that, the major ball sport for blind people in Cameroon was torball.[1][2] Since then, the sport is supported by local clubs and schools, and via activities at conferences and other events.[3][4][5]

Club for the Blind Youth of Cameroon (CJARC)[translations 1] is an association supporting blind youth. In 2006, they supported a number of sporting activities for the blind at their club including athletics, African wrestling, judo and goalball.[3] The club was still active supporting women's goalball in 2014, 2015 and 2016.[6][7][8] Another association supporting disability sports is PROMHANDICAM Yaounde.[translations 2] In 2004, they were supporting wheelchair basketball and goalball. That year, the club was visited by England's Prince Edward.[4]

The sport has also appeared on the program for conferences related to disability rights in Cameroon. An example of this occurred at the 2012 Vaincre Handicap Conference, which took place in November in Douala, when Public School Akwa[translations 3] played an exhibition match against Douala.[5]

Domestic competitions

Goalball has been supported by a number of domestic competitions in the country.[2][9][10] The sport was contested at the 2006 Champion of Cameroon in Handicap Sports that took place at the Higher Institute of Youth and Sports. PROMHANDICAM won the event, defeating CJARC 17 - 9 in the final.[2]

Camtel Yaoundé has organized several national championships for goalball. Following the 2011-2012 domestic season, they organized a men's and women's national club championship. The men's final saw Rouffignac go up against CJARC. The match was close with CJARC coming out ahead by a score of 4 - 3. In the women's final, Fadi beat BGSA 13 - 3.[9] The domestic season again took place for 2013–2014. Following the conclusion of the season, Camtel Yaoundé hosted the men's national club championship, with four teams taking part. These teams were Evangelical College Goalball Club of Douala,[translations 4] Cispam Goalball Cub of Bafoussam,[translations 5] Mount Cameroon Buea Goalball[translations 6] and PROMHANDICAM Yaounde.[10]

International competitions

Cameroon has participated in international goalball competitions, with the country having had both men and women's national teams competing abroad.[11][12][13]

Cameroon sent a team to the 2007 All-Africa Games. The roster included André Patrick Ndo Andeme, Hervé Paulain Nomy Ngoma, Luc Yombi Kifie, and Boulom Théophile R. Le Grand.[11] Goalball was on the program for the 2008 African Francophone Games for the Handicapped, which Cameroon was originally scheduled to host in July, but the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education postponed them because of poor facilities and lack of access to quality equipment.[14] The Games did not take place until August. The men's national goalball team won gold at the event after Cameroon beat the Central African Republic 11 - 1 in the first game, and 13 - 3 in the return match.[13]

The women's national team was invited to participate in the 2015 IBSA World Games in South Korea.[12] In 2016, Cameroon was supposed to send a women's team to participate in International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball Africa Regional Championships. Along with Cameroon, other nations that were supposed to participate in the women's tournament included Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Tunisia. The tournament was the first African Regional Championships which featured a women's competition.[15][16] Their participation was in question until very close to the start of the tournament because of issues related to visas and international licenses.[17][18] Cameroon ended up not going, with only Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco participating.[19]

Goalball players

Cameroon has 13 players who had been classified internationally by the IBSA for the 2016 summer international goalball season.[20] A number of these players have also represented Cameroon in athletics, including André Patrick Ndo Andeme and Simone Edwige Amandi Ngono.[21][22][23][24][25] The women's national team assistant coach was Pascal Ele Mvondo.[26]

Name Gender Birthday Classification Ref
Simone Edwige Amandi Ngono Female 31/10/1991 B2 [20]
Eliette Bruna Assampele Female 17/05/1997 B1 [20]
Charles Christole Atangana Ntsama Male 22/09/1992 B1 [20]
Patrick Bakounga Awa Male 22/10/1986 B1 [20]
Judith Kenekou Female 22/05/1996 B1 [20]
Judith Lebog Mariette Female 13/05/1990 B1 [20]
Malone Stephane Mollo Jules Male 15/09/1996 B1 [20]
Andre Patrick Ndo Andeme Male 11/08/1985 B1 [20]
Laurece Claire Ngansop Chimigni Female 11/04/1998 B2 [20]
Lucrece Raissa Ngansop Fobasso Female 11/04/1998 B2 [20]
Arouna Nsangou Male 5/03/1992 B1 [20]
Luc Yombi Kifie Male 9/08/1986 B1 [20]

Translations

  1. ^ The name of the organization in French is, Club des jeunes aveugles réhabilités du Cameroun.
  2. ^ The name of the organization in French is, Promhandicam de Yaoundé.
  3. ^ The name of the school in French is, l’école publique d’Akwa.
  4. ^ The name of the club in French is, Collège évangélique goalball club de Douala.
  5. ^ The name of the club in French is, Cispam goalball club de Bafoussam.
  6. ^ The name of the club in French is, Mont Cameroon goalball de Buea.

References

  1. ^ Christelle, Manigang (December 2015). "Le Goalball : une discipline sportive désignée pour les malvoyants". reglo.org (in French). reglo.org. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Vubem, Fred (December 7, 2006). "Cameroon: CERAS, Champion of Cameroon in Handicap Sports". Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé). Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Bangré, Habibou (May 30, 2006). "Cameroun : ensemble pour aider les aveugles". Afrik (in French). Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Promhandicam Association (June 7, 2004). "Juin — Visite du conte de Wessex à Promhandicam". Promhandicam Association (in French). Promhandicam Association. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Programme — Vaincre le Handicap". Vaincre le Handicap (in French). November 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  6. ^ Club des Jeunes Aveugles Réhabilités du Cameroun (CJARC) (December 8, 2015). "Journée portes ouvertes". Horyou (in French). Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  7. ^ "Journée Internationale de la Femme". Horyou (in French). September 3, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Bienvenue au CJARC". CJARC. Club des Jeunes Aveugles Rehabilités du Cameroun. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Kamga, Sylvestre (November 26, 2012). "Sport pour tous — La Fecasdev clôture ses activés". Mboa News (in French). Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Sports pour déficients visuels : la Fecasdev clôture sa saison sportive le 25 octobre 2014". Cameroun Guide GIE (in French). Cameroun Guide GIE. October 25, 2014. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Mutations (2007). "Le Portail du Cameroun". Cameroon-Info.Net (in French). Mutations. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  12. ^ a b IBSA Sport (November 14, 2014). "Vital goalball update for IBSA World Games — News — IBSA". International Blind Sports Federation. International Blind Sports Federation. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Athlétisme — Jeux paralympiques 2008 : Doutes sur la participation camerounaise". Mboa.info (in French). Mboa.info. August 5, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ Ngatsing Tchuente, Laure (July 14, 2008). "Afrique Centrale: Le Minsep reporte les Jeux de l'Avenir" (in French). All Africa. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  15. ^ Haroutounian, Rosanna (February 26, 2016). "African Championships to crown goalball qualifiers". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  16. ^ IBSA Sport (February 22, 2016). "2016 IBSA Goalball Africa Regional Championships to Begin 26 February — News — IBSA". International Blind Sports Association. International Blind Sports Association. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  17. ^ "CAN/Goal-ball à staouéli (29 fév- 4 mars 2016) : Qui représentera l'Afrique dans les paralympiques 2016 ?Algerie Confluences". Algerie Confluences (in French). Algerie Confluences. March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  18. ^ M, Mounir (January 16, 2016). "CAN de goal-ball (hommes et dames): La Tunisie, l'Egypte et le Maroc au rendez-vous d'Alger". Reporters (in French). Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  19. ^ "Goalball – Championnat d'Afrique : les Algériennes passent en finale | Radio Algérienne". Radio Algerie (in French). March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m IBSA Sport (Summer 2016). "ISAS Classification Report" (PDF). International Blind Sports Federation. International Blind Sports Federation. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  21. ^ "Athletes Sport List — Cameroon". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  22. ^ IPC (February 15, 2015). "Aled Davies breaks world record at IPC Athletics Grand Prix Dubai". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  23. ^ Cameroon Tribune (April 4, 2015). "Sport pour tous — Handisport: les bons points du Cameroun à Dubaï". Mboa.info (in French). Mboa.info. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  24. ^ "7th Fazaa International Athletics Competition 2015 - Results Day 4" (PDF). Team Thomas. IPC. 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  25. ^ "5th Sharjah International Open Athletics Meeting 2015 Sharjah — Day 2" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  26. ^ Biem Tong, Michel (2011). "Sport-Pascal Ele Mvondo :" Le goal ball est né après les guerres mondiales "". Poalah.net (in French). Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
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