The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Goalball Committee have organised a series of workshops in Africa to train coaches and officials, with the most recent one taking place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 24-27 November.

A total of 62 participants from Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Mauritius, Niger and Ivory Coast attended the event, aimed at developing goalball in more countries and providing additional information to those who are already practising the sport.

Topics included sport rules, essentials of team preparation and coaching, officiating techniques and procedures, and administration of sport-related documentation.

This was the second of a series of workshops, which followed the one held in Algiers, Algeria, in March 2016.

Once the workshop theoretical and practical sessions concluded, the participants had the chance to try their newly-acquired skills at a six-team tournament, which was won by Ivory Coast following a victory over Mali.

In addition to the valuable knowledge gained, each country’s representatives returned home with equipment to help them continue develop local programmes.

“We are very satisfied with the programme, I believe all participants got a lot of information that they can later use to develop the sport in their countries,” said Ivory Coast Federation for the Disabled President, Fernand Koffi.

“We feel this was a big step forward towards playing, coaching and officiating better in African goalball.”

The next workshop is scheduled for early 2017.