News Page

Date:2008-10-29
Headline: BSO / PA Goalball Boys come in second place.
Story::The BSO Boys goalball team had high expectations to live up to heading into this past weekend’s High School National Goalball Championships.  As defending champions they were expected to finish well.  Play went great on Friday for the boys as they beat New York 11-5, Arizona 12-6, Utah 8-3 and Atlanta 10-0 in a mercy rule game.  This meant that BSO was at the top of their pool and would cross-over against Michigan on Saturday morning.  Some early sloppiness showed on the part of the guys but they always held at least a 2 goal lead and won the game 8-6.  This win set them up for a game in the quarterfinals against Utah.  The guys played superbly in this game and beat their opponent 7-2 with the last goal given up occurring just a minute before the end of the game.  This now meant that the boys would face the home team of Florida.  The Florida team had only one returning starter but with some fresh talent looked hard to beat.  They had walloped last year’s runner-up, Illinois, 9-1 in the semis and would play in front of a packed house that was cheering them on.  This didn’t mean that BSO had a lack of support though.  The numbers were only slightly greater for Florida and the BSO cheers were just as loud.  The game went back and forth early with a new member of the team, Donnie Buie scoring the first two BSO goals.  The defense started to lack however and the team was down 6-3 early in the second half when they started making an effort to come back.  Buie put another one in the net to bring the game close but not a few plays later Florida reopened the score with a goal of their own to make it 7-4.  This was when the BSO center, Andy Jenks, and last year’s MVP wanted to help his team go for broke.  Committing a handful of high ball penalties was not helping and he straightened out his game throwing balls that the Florida defenders were hardly able to handle.  The score eventually drew even at 8-8 after the 4 late goals were scored as well as one was conceded.  Yet with 36 seconds left on the clock the BSO defense gave up a goal to allow Florida its first win at Youth Nationals since 2004.  The team played far above its expectations, however, as only one member, Andy Jenks, had been on the team before.  The team of Jenks, Buie, Matt Shields and Mike Coughlin represented BSO well and may not have won another title but sure did try to.  Jenks went on to receive MVP honors as well as being named to the All-American Team.  Goal totals included 40 for Jenks, 14 for Buie, 5 for Shields and 4 for “little” Mike Coughlin. 

 
Date:2008-07-10
Headline: Audio Network "Road to Beijing" Grap a T-shirt!
Story::
 
  

   
    
   
  

    

Audio Network "Road to
    Beijing"

    Grab yourself a T-shirt!


    


    Road to Beijing Front view, depicting a goalball player in front of a map of China with the Audio Network logo and the words "Road To Beijing"http://sports.pressakey.net/igc2008/images/road_to_beijing2.jpg" width="250">If
    you are enjoying the coverage of this tournament, and you want
    to proudly display that you were part of the Audio Network's
    unrivalled coverage of the sport of goalball, you can now buy
    the "Road to Beijing" T-shirt.


    

Ths shirt is white in color,
    with black print on the front and the back.


    

The front view depicts a
    goalball player in front of a map of China with the Audio
    Network logo and the words "Road To Beijing"


    

 


    


    Road to Beijing back view, with the dates of the tournaments the audio Network has covered in the lead up to the Paralympicshttp://sports.pressakey.net/igc2008/images/road_to_beijing_back.jpg" width="250">


    

The Rear view shows the dates
    of the tournaments the Audio Network has covered, or will be
    covering in the lead up to the Paralympics.


    

The t-shirts are priced at
    $15.00 each, and are available in a wide variety of sizes.


    

These tees will be available
    for sale in Alabama, come along and pick one up!


    

Or, if you can't get to
    Alabama, we will be glad to post them out to you, wherever you
    are in the world.


    

For US orders please add $3.50
    for postage, for outside the US, please add $5.00 for shipping.


    


    mailto:bill@pressakey.net?Subject=I would like to purchase a t-shirt&body=please let us know how many you would like, and what sizes you would like, and whether you would like to pay by credit card of check.">
    Click here to send us an e-mail to order your t-shirts!


  
Date:2008-07-07
Headline: Listen to the Lakeshore International Goalball Classic (IGC)
Story::Hey everyone!
The US Women's Goalball Team is headed to Birmingham, AL this week to take on Canada, Denmark, and Japan at the 2nd annual Lakeshore International Goalball Classic. The tournament format is a double round-robin to seed everyone for the semi-finals. Last year Canada knocked us out in the championship game but this year we're going in fresh from a draumatic triple overtime win at the Malmo Lady Intercup and with our sights set on gold in Beijing.

Once again, Bill Teale, the voice of goalball, will be broadcasting all games live. It's possible he will also have a video feed going as well.

Head over to his website to check out the tournament schedule and to find out how you can listen and possibly watch our games Live!
http://sports.pressakey.net/igc2008/
Date:2008-07-05
Headline: Venom Write up for Nationals
Story::
Venom Write up for Nationals
After winning a gold medal in Michigan and taking a silver in New Jersey, Venom went to the 2008 National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah with the desire that most championship caliber teams have. However would desire be enough or would they fall short of their goal? Dedicating this year to their fallen teammate Darryl Green, Josh Schwartz, John Mulhern, Steve Mulhern, Andy Jenks, and coach/player Greg Gontaryk wanted to go out with a bang. They looked to do just that as they beat New Jersey 10-0 in the first game. Going home Thursday night from the gym Venom felt more alive than most. However the next morning they came to their first wall. Playing Utah in their home town was no easy task as they found out when they traded goal after goal but eventually fell short 10-7. Their 3rd game against New York later that afternoon, they went in with a fiery vengefulness and made short work of their opponent 14-7. This would seed them #2 in their division which meant that they would face California, the #3 seeded team from the other division. After taking a 5-1 lead at the half Venom thought they had this in the bag. However this turned out to not be the case as California slowly but surely caught up to eventually take an 8-7 lead! But PA held tough and eventually came out the victor 9-8. This would seed them #3 overall and put them into the semi finals the next morning where they would have a rematch against Utah. This would be the 3rd year in a row that Utah and Venom had faced off in the semi finals at nationals. Venom started off strong taking a 5-3 lead but Utah was ever so persistent and eventually caught up. What happened in the 2nd half can only be described as gut wrenching as PA and Utah literally traded goals back and forth, back and forth. When one team scored the other would score and then score again to take the lead and then the 1st team would score and then score again to take the lead. Eventually when it was 9-9 though, Utah broke through and finished what they had started winning 14-9. This would put Venom in the bronze medal game against Michigan Wrecking Crew. Again Venom started off strong taking an early lead. But Michigan again was ever so persistent and eventually caught up by halftime to take a 7-4 lead. The 2nd half was very bad as Venom was exhausted and upset and a plethora of other emotions. As Michigan's lead kept increasing Venom was starting to lose hope. And sadly with less than 2 minutes left, Michigan scored a goal to put the final nail in the coffin by making it 15-5 thereby delivering a mercy on PA. This was the first time in 11 years that PA hadn't placed. However it was kind of ironic since PA took 4th and Darryl Green was #4.
Date:2008-03-08
Headline: Venom wins an Emotional Championship In Michigan.
Story::

After getting trounced in Canada venom came to Michigan vowing to do well. Many critics agreed that after their abysmal performance the previous month Venom wasn’t even a contender and wouldn't even make it to the top 4. Bringing with them a full arsenal of 6 players including Steve Mulhern, Greg Gontaryk, Andy Jenks, Derren Daly, Josh Schwartz, and John Mulhern. They started off with a mercy against Kentucky 15-5 and then went on to beat Illinois 12-4.

They then played their toughest game of the day which was Crew black where they still pulled off the win 7-5. This put them 3-0 in their pool and would advance them to the quarter finals to play GLASA. Being that this was a group of high schoolers they decided to bench starter John Mulhern. Even in doing so they pulled off a 9-1 victory which would take them to Sunday morning’s semi finals where they would play Crew Red. Venom took an early 3-0 lead but crew red would not be dismayed as they caught up. After catching up they traded goals. However it would be Venom who would come out on top at the half 5-3. At the start of the 2nd half 2 consecutive penalties thrown by John Mulhern would tie the game up 5-5. From this point on it was goal after goal as both teams went back and forth. However in the end Venom would come out the victor 8-7.

This would advance them to the finals where they would play the Ontario All blacks who had torched them 5-1 a months previous. After grueling first half Venom lead Ontario 2-1. At the start of the 2nd half on the first throw Ontario scored on Josh to tie it up. But then on the very next shot John Mulhern scored to take the lead again. This would be the theme of the 2nd half as it showed that every time Ontario scored Venom would retort with a goal of their own on the very next shot. Finally with about 1:30 left in the game Ontario scored to take the lead 5-4. With little hope left Venom kept fighting as they didn’t want to lose to All Black twice in a row. With 40 seconds left on the clock John Mulhern put it in the net to tie it up 5-5. However no more goals would be scored in regulation as we moved to overtime. Venom won the toss and elected to throw. Now in overtime the first team to score wins. John tried on two unsuccessful attempts to put the ball in the net but failed. After his brother Steven took a turn John asked for the ball back and did what he had set out to do. With a swift throw he willed that ball into the net to give Venom the victory and the gold medal!

This was a tremendous win for Venom as they were playing for Darryl Green who, as Josh Schwartz said afterwards, “Darryl would’ve been proud of us. Venom vs. All Black was one of his favorites and he loved the close games.” Venom stays undefeated on US soil for now and takes the first of 3 tournamts by storm. Next stop…NEW JERSEY

Date:2008-02-26
Headline: Kalamazoo Tournament to be broadcast live.
Story::Kalamazoo Tournament to be broadcast live.

I am delighted to announce that the Audio Network will begin this year’s “road to Beijing 2008” with our first live broadcast of the season this weekend, The 24th Annual USABA Midwest Regional Goalball Tournament, coming from the WMU Student Resource Center in Kalamazoo Michigan.

The tournament, known also as the John Bakos Memorial Tournament, features fifteen of the finest men’s and women’s goalball teams in the USA, playing not only for championship glory, but for qualification for the US National Tournament in Utah later this year, and of course, hoping to catch the selector’s eye for the US national teams bound for the Paralympics in Beijing in September.

We will be bringing you live action from start to finish, courtesy (as usual) of our friends at the accessibleworld.org

We will be online live from 9am EST (2pm GMT, 6am Pacific) on Saturday March 1st, with the whole day’s round robin action, and then we will be back on Sunday from around about the same time, right through to the crowning of the champions in the early afternoon.

The actual schedule has yet to be finalized at the time of writing, but you can keep in touch, and find out how to listen live by going to the following address…

http://sports.pressakey.net/k2008

You will be able to listen to the entire event, live, and free of course, by pressing number 1 from this page, or clicking on the visual link below the audio player. This will take you to the accessible world auditorium. Whilst in the auditorium, during the event, you will hear the commentary, and also be able to text chat with others listening in. When you enter the room, it asks for your name and a password – you do not have to put a password in, just add your name and leave the password blank.

If you have not used the auditorium before, you must first download a small plugin on your computer. This is available on the page when you press number 1 on your keyboard. It is a small, unobtrusive little program that makes the whole thing work. You only have to go through this operation once. If you have any problems, send an e-mail to us by pressing number 2 on your keyboard.

The team lineups have been announced, and also this page, during the event, will include a full schedule of games, including results and reports on the games, keeping you right up to date with all that is happening.

Women’s teams competing –

Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, GLASA, Illinois, WMU, Kalamazoo

Men’s teams competing –

Kentucky, PABA Venom, GLASA, Illinois, Ontario, WMU Red, WMU Black, NE Florida

Please pass this on to as many people as possible!

See you in Kalamazoo!

Bill

About Us | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © 2008 Pa Goalball and Mulhern Designs