20 Years Torball

Policy 20 Years Torball

Policy	20 Years Torball

20 years are enough - Torball fights with success!

1. Review
2. The fatal decision
3. A successful recipe for Torball
4. The fight for survival
5. First positive decision of the Goalballer group
6. The current situation
7. The official IBSA tournaments
8. Country spectrum
9. Conclusions

1. Review

Looking back.

Paris 1981:
The international blind sport federation (IBSA) is created. With the evaluation of the kinds of sport types, which are to be promoted in the future by the IBSA, have named 3 game types officially called:

Roll ball,
Goalball and
Torball.

Rollball:

The oldest of the three games , was developed after the end of the Second World War in Germany. At the beginning of the eighties, roll ball is still played by a few eastern, and non-European nations.

The Roll ball game develops into Goalball and Torball in the sixties.

The most substantial difference between Torball and Goalball is the ball itself. (see also Chapter 3). While the Goalballer still used the heavy 2 kg. medicine ball, which is not inflated, the Torball pioneers used a lighter 500 gr. ball that needed to be inflated. Due to the air pressure in the inside of the ball, it presents a " useful " ball behavior and leaves the players with many variations. However the medicine ball shows a slow-acting behavior and once it is on the ground it does not bounce at all. So that the ball stays at ground level for the blind players, Goalball has a release area. Torball uses cords that are stretched over the entire width of the playing field, and the ball must be delivered under these lines without touching them.

Torball was played particularly in Central Europe. Goalball had its followers particularly in England, Holland and the USA.

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2. Fatal decision!

Due to the deciding committees, where above all representatives from Goalball countries where taken into account, the IBSA decides to except Goalball. They decide to promote Goalball as the only team sport for the blind.

With this questionable decision the IBSA takes the path of the least resistance. The still young organization is too busy with itself, because of its structural work. Problems for Torball e.g. with the regulations, were elegantly avoided by the IBSA. At this time there were still no internationally uniform Torball regulations. The missing supervision of a presiding union, for the regulations, led to different developments in the individual countries.

A further reason for this unfortunate IBSA decision consisted of the fact that the federations, which supported Goalball, were organized at the time.

For the fastest integration of Goalball into the Paraolympics as possible, the games in 1984 in the USA were perfectly timed.

In 1987 the IBSA achieved the goal that from 1988 in Seoul, Goalball was officially in the Paraolympics program.

The IBSA creates a monopoly position for the protagonists of Goalball to promote their sport. Due to the high merit of the Paraolympics, the sport of Goalball remained an interesting challenge for participants and functionaries. They offer large PR possibilities. Last but not least, owing to the status of a paraolympic sport, Goalball received the vital life giving financial support of the international commissions. These are financial means, which facilitate a world-wide co-operation that only Paraolympic sports organizations receive. For the IBSA members it is substantially easier to acquire the financial means for the attendance to official matches, if the kind of sport is paraolympic.

In this context it is amazing that, as history shows, everything came out differently, than the IBSA representatives expected at the time. Practically nothing more is heard about Roll ball, but Torball developed itself even further under the circumstances of its limited possibilities.

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3. A successful recipe for Torball

With the above stated questionable decision made in Paris the strengths of the Torball sport were underestimated! Unfortunately the functionaries at that time of the IBSA had failed to observe that among other things:

Torball, due to the light, air-filled ball leads to a much quicker and more sophisticated play, which in turn is more exciting and more interesting for participants and spectators.
The ball, which is the heart of the game, has important characteristics in Torballs favor. Whoever has once held a Torball and a Goalball, will notice the difference.
Torball, thanks to the ball, is suitable for men, women, young people and seniors.
Torball can be supported by a large team organization.

All these advantages of Torball should show the international federations, whose task is it to make sports for the sight impaired readily available, that Torball is very important.

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4. The fight for survival

In this situation, numerous blind and sight impaired people in Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland strengthened their stand in the survival fight of the Torball sport.

1986:

The first self-organized, Europacup for club teams in Marburg (Germany). After this meeting the participants formed a commission for the future co-ordination and further procedures.

This commission, whose members for the most part worked with no financial support from outside, successfully, in record time, combined all the different regulations and tested their work at the Europacups 1987 in Modena (Italy) and 1988 in Salzburg (Austria).

The Torball committees attempt to meet with the Goal ball's committees to discuss ways to work side by side have remained unsuccessful to this day.

1989:

At its general assembly of at the beginning of of July in Italy the IBSA, at the request of the Torball nations Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland agrees to accept Torball officially as a sport. Similarly to the other kinds of sports a subcommittee for Torball is used. Its task exists primarily in the co-ordination and monitoring of the technical interests for the technical committees. Markus Schenker of Switzerland is selected as a first president. Schenker is still fighting today with success at the head of the subcommittee!

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5. First positive decision from the Goalballer group.

The same general assembly agreed at the request of the Goalball subcommittee for the weight reduction of its ball from 2 kg to 1,250 kg. This was an attempt to test the waters of the attractive Torball sport. This decision was made without consultation with the Torball representatives.

With the reduction of the ball weight Goalball became actually somewhat more interesting. The differences to Torball are not substantially smaller however. The characteristics of the ball with all the consequences on the play compatibility and actual play, did not bring the two sports any closer together.

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6. The current situation

Since 1991 the people interested in Torball succeeded in motivating organizations and national federations to produce official IBSA tournaments. Annual tournaments, as planned, are now taking place. These are a Europacup, a club tournament of the country championships for women and men, and a European championship for women and men.
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7. Official IBSA-Tournaments

Year	European Championships	Eurean Cup	World Championship	World Cup
1991	Bolzano (I)	Davos (CH)
1992		Bruxelles (B)
1993	Glarus (CH)	Frankfurt AM (D)
1994		Bolzano (I)
1995	Leuven (B)	Ragusa (I)
1996		Landshut (D)
1997	Wilhelmshaven (D)	Hasselt (B)
1998		Bülach (CH)		Bülach (CH)
1999	Poitiers (F)	Salzburg (AU)
2000		Marburg (D)		Marburg (D)
2001	Kreuzlingen (CH)	Paris (F)	Kreuzlingen (CH)
2002		Brugge (B)		Brugge (B)

From the 12th to the 23rd of July 1990 the first and only official world championships for women and men took place in Saint Etienne (France).

National championships take place annually in various countries.

National and international friendship tournaments between club teams form the basis of the European play enterprise. In 1994 approximately 150 Torball tournaments with at least four participants took place e.g. in Europe.

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8. Country spectrum

Many Torball friends, during the last few years, to a large extent on their own initiative, undertook actions to promote and make Torball recognized world-wide. For this purpose the association PRO TORBALL was created in 1993.

Torball is played today in the following continents:

Africa - North America - central and South America - Asia - Oceania - Europe
The following country spectrum gives an idea over the variety of the different contacts.

Country Spectrum:
All nations specified in the list below were present at a meeting or at least were provided with detailed Torball information and were contacted personally.

Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Benign
Brazil
Burkina faso
Cameron
China
Cuba
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Finland

France
Germany
Guinea
Honduras
Hungary
Ivory Coast
Indonesia
Israel
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kuwait
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg

Mali
Malta
Maurizius
the Netherlands
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Paraguay
Portugal
Poland
Rumania
Russia
Sweden

Switzerland
Senegal
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
South Korea
Turkmenistan
Uruguay
USA
Zambia

The IBSA subcommittee succeeded in internationally developing the arbitrator division. For continental championships the IBSA approximately 40 licensed arbitrators are available. These arbitrators come mainly from Europe and South America. Training courses are offered and organized annually.

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9. Conclusions

IPC and IBSA must recognize that Goalball and Torball, in the last 40 years, have developed into two independent sport games, which can be combined only with co-operation and good will on both sides.

20 Years are enough - Torball fights with success. This should be now finally also be recognized by the IBSA. Different facts show that on the part of the international federations an action is urgently needed to clarify today's unsatisfactory situation for the future.

The miscalculation of the IBSA concerning Goalball and Torball at the beginning of the eighties, now has practical prove. Despite large competition disadvantages Torball is enjoying world-wide popularity.

The increasing variety in the sport on the one hand and missing financial means on the other hand, question the coexistence of two similar kinds of sports for the long term. The IBSA and its members should critically consider whether they can afford Goal and Torball both. Social and economic aspects must be considered.

A new evaluation of the current situation between Goalball and Torball must be made on the political as well as on the sporting level. A temporary solution should create equal chances for both kinds of sports.

From this the following demands result:

Die IBSA must signal clearly and choose a solution that is acceptable for both sides.
Die IBSA must set a deadline for both subcommittees to find a solution together.
If no solution can be found, the IBSA must ask the IPC for some time to figure out which one of the two sport games will be represented in 2008 at the paraolympics!
All Torball players and fans are to show the same commitment and joy to uphold the Torball sport.

Glarus, in january 2001

F. Bolliger

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Please send any comments to the above-mentioned contents to: bolliger-michel@torball.org.