A Peachtree City native is competing on the international stage in a sport that many people may have never seen or heard of.
Amanda Dennis was named the 2014 female disabled athlete of the year by BlazeSports and was honored in November in Atlanta at the Georgia Disability Sports Awards
For several years the 20-year-old has been a member of the U.S. national goalball team, which reached the quarterfinals at the 2012 Paralympics in London and captured the gold at the International Blind Sport Association’s (IBSA) Goalball World Championships in July in Finland.
Goalball is played on a court the same size as a volleyball court, with markings such as tape and string to help players determine their position and which direction they are facing.
Amanda Dennis with her awards. Photo/Submitted.
“It’s kind of like reverse dodgeball,” said Dennis. “The ball is moving 30-40 [mph], and you have to block the ball so it doesn’t reach the goal, which is pretty wide.”
The unique thing about goalball is that all of the players are blindfolded, and the ball has a bell inside it to help players locate it. The crowd must be absolutely silent during each match.
Goalball players must have 20-200 vision or worse to compete in sanctioned play.
Dennis’ vision is exactly 20-200, and her team members have varying degrees of vision impairment.
All players wear blindfolds to level the playing field. Only one player on Dennis’ national team is completely blind, although players from other countries may have several blind players.
Dennis was born with a condition known as aniridia, which means her eyes do not have an iris.
Since she has been this way her entire life, she has adapted quite well and her vision seems normal to her because she has known nothing else.
“I don’t have any trouble getting around or anything like that,” said the University of Georgia student when interviewed last week from Athens, adding that she will soon be driving.
She began playing goalball at 9 years old and competed in youth nationals within a year.
She was attending USA women’s training camps by 15 and competing internationally at 17.
Dennis’ teammate slings a goalball. The ball has a bell in it to help with location. Goalball is played blindfolded and players must have 20-200 vision or worse to compete–Dennis has exactly 20-200. Photo/Submitted.
Shortly after her international debut, she made the Paralympic team that competed in London.
Dennis is majoring in sport management with a minor in exercise and sport science. She wants to go to graduate school and eventually work in the field of exercise.
“My ultimate goal is to work with athletes,” she said. She also wants to continue her studies at some point in Colorado Springs, which, coincidentally, is where the U.S. Olympic program is headquartered.
With a number of years left to compete, it is likely that there are still plenty of goalball highlights in her future, as well.
