On Saturday, January 26, 2013, in Nice, at the Albert Malatesta gymnasium (64, avenue Cyril Besset – Nice Nord), an essential event organized by the A.N.I.C.E.S association will take place: the French Women’s Torball Championship D1.
Seven teams will be present: Lyon, Marseille, Nice, AVH Paris, COPAA Paris, Poitiers, and Toulouse.
The A.N.I.C.E.S association is calling on the residents of the Nice region to discover this unique sporting event. Entry to the gymnasium will be free and accessible to all.
Torball, a team sport designed by the Germans after the Second World War, is today one of the few team sports for the visually impaired. Some four hundred visually impaired people in France participate in this activity.
On a field measuring sixteen by seven meters, this sport involves scoring goals with a sound-emitting ball that produces a noise as it rolls across the floor, enabling it to be located. A match is limited to two halves of five minutes and is played by two teams of three players (two wingers and one center).
Based on hearing, this sport requires silence and proves to be an excellent exercise for the blind; combining the acquisition of reflexes with increased orientation capabilities, it also requires great concentration and a hint of nervous tension.
In Nice, Torball is a rapidly evolving sport. The A.N.I.C.E.S. association currently has three Torball teams: the men’s team 1 (in the 2nd division), the men’s team 2 (in the 4th division), and the women’s team, which participates for the second year in the French Championship.
Torball is also developing among younger players: since 2009, a youth section has been set up in the city of Nice. Following this Women’s Championship on January 26, a Torball demonstration will take place by a team of budding young players.
This year, team 1 will start the Championships on February 23, 2013, in Tours, with the objective of maintaining their position in D2. As for team 2, they will begin the competition on March 2, 2013, in Hyères.
At the end of the matches, a ranking will be established, in preparation for the return Championships, which will take place in Marseille on Saturday, June 15, 2013.
