HEREFORD Goalball Club is on a mission to recruit more members.

After the UK’s success at the IBSA European Championships, the Royal National College for the Blind’s goalball club is asking for more sighted people to get involved with the sport at a club level due to an increase of interest from visually impaired players.

The sport, played by two teams of three players, consists of bowling a ball along the floor so that it crosses the goal line of the opposing team.

The ball contains bells, which help players locate it during play.

The game is played by both males and female visually-impaired athletes as well as sighted players, who wear eyeshades so they are totally blindfolded.

Aaron Ford, who runs the club, said: “Goalball has been growing at a rate of knots since London 2012, but without coaches and officials we cannot continue to expand.

“We estimate that only one per cent of visually-impaired people in the UK have access to goalball coaching and facilities — sighted people can help change this and transform the lives of visually-impaired people in Hereford.”

The club are hosting a session for sighted or visually-impaired people to learn more about the sport next Tuesday at the Royal National College for the Blind.