A VISUALLY impaired athlete with Paralympic dreams has been chosen to represent the GB's Goalball team for the upcoming IBSA European B Championships in Poland next month.

Royal National College for the Blind student, Joseph Roper will be part of the five-man squad knowing that a successful tournament would take the team back to the very highest level of the game in Europe and in a strong position ahead of the World Championships and Tokyo Paralympics 2020.

Roper said: “I’m so proud to have been picked for the Europeans!

"It will be the first time I’ve put on the GB jersey and played for the team, so it will be an extremely special moment for me for sure. Our preparation has been next level, and I think we all feel fully ready to take on the rest of Europe and establish ourselves as a team to be reckoned with ahead of the worlds in 2020.”

The new look squad will be competing in Chorzow, Poland between September 22 and 30, with hopes of returning to the A league, having slipped to the B division last year.

Faye Dale, head coach of the Men’s GB squad, added: “I’m really confident that this team will deliver our aim of returning to the top tier.

“The last squad achieved promotion from C to B to A in astounding time, so we were rightly proud of the performance at the A tournament.

“Training has gone really well, with the new players slotting in nicely with existing players whilst adding a new vibrancy and flair to the squad.”

Goalball was originally developed to rehabilitate soldiers after WWII and is the only team sport invented specifically for the visually impaired.