County student seeks athletes, facility for local goalball team

Flowers High senior hopes to spread interest in sport for the visually impaired

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006

by Terron Hampton

Staff Writer

Mitchellville resident Michael Spriggs has no sight.

But once you get to know the mature adolescent Spriggs is and the adult he could grow into, it’s easy to see how he finds happiness.

Spriggs, 17, is a life-long athlete. He has shot hoops on a basketball court and caught passes on a football field just like many other youth.

But Spriggs’ calling may be in a game called goalball, a game for the visually impaired. He is hoping to spread interest in the game in Prince George’s County.

‘‘I tried it and I loved it,” Spriggs said. ‘‘I think it’s such a challenge. I’ve always loved challenges.”

In goalball, the challenge is for a team of three players to prevent an opposing team of three players from advancing a ball past a boundary point. The ball is similar in size to a basketball and has eight holes in which small jingle bells are placed. The game is played on a 60- by 40-foot floor, usually a hardwood floor in a gymnasium.

The playing court is surrounded a stringed barrier, which the players feel for to remain inbounds. The object is for the players to roll the ball into the other teams goal. The ball must touch the floor before it advances beyond an overthrow line, or a penalty is assessed.

Players have a chance to display their athleticism within the game, and often dive to stop shots on goal.

What makes goalball an all -inclusive game is that all players are given special goggles, which totally disable a player’s vision.

But Spriggs has found difficulty in persuading others in positions of authority to find out how good an opportunity the sport can be.

‘‘I’m looking for facilities,” Spriggs said. ‘‘Trying to find facilities has been the biggest hurdle. [Organizations] often claim they don’t have the space or they may have something going on there, or they want to rent out the space instead of donating it.”

‘‘Goalball happens to be one of our premier sports in the USABA,” said Mark Lucas, president of the United States Association of Blind Athletes. ‘‘People who are blind or visually impaired don’t have the opportunity to play team sports [because] most sports are eye-hand coordination sports.

‘‘It is a venture to attempt to get a goalball team together,” Lucas continued. ‘‘You need key resources to be able to do that. You need funding for equipment. There are several equipment needs. The huge one is having a facility to be able to play in.”

Spriggs had limited vision to begin life. Glaucoma severely affected how well he could see until a swimming accident totally took his vision at age 13.

He began his senior year of high school Monday at C.H. Flowers High School. Prior to attending Flowers, Spriggs attended the Maryland School for the Blind and the New York Institute for the Blind, where he first became familiar with goalball.

Dan Claytosh, teacher and goalball coach at Maryland School for the Blind, spoke highly of Spriggs’ character.

‘‘Michael is a very impressive young man,” Claytosh said. ‘‘I’ve always been impressed by his work ethic and ability level. He attacks challenges head on, whether they were personal challenges or put on him by my coaching staff. We made him captain and gave him a leadership position. Michael has grown as someone I can count on as a coach. I think it’s great he’s looking to expose others to the sport. That is something he’s doing on his on. It is a struggle that we all face in getting the sport out there.”

Spriggs has attempted to start a Washington area goalball team for the past year. He has drawn interest from local players, but cannot seem to reserve any facilities. But he still holds on to his dream.

Spriggs’ grandmother, Emma Spriggs Jefferson, has aided Spriggs in all of his endeavors and he said she was perhaps the most influential person in his life. Jefferson explained why Spriggs has a uniqueness about himself.

‘‘Michael has always had a special compassion about himself even though early on, he knew he could not see as well as those around him,” Jefferson said. ‘‘And that’s one of the things that makes him special to me. He was always concerned more about others than himself. He also perseveres through everything.”

E-mail Terron Hampton at thampton@gazette.net.