SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Nearly 100 blind and visually impaired middle and high school athletes will be competing in the annual Savannah Youth Goalball Invitational starting Friday.

Goalball is a sport designed for blind or visually impaired athletes where players track the ball by listening to the bells inside, scoring by throwing the ball into the opposing team’s net.  

There will be 16 girls and boys team from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Utah and Ontario, Canada.

Two Coastal Empire athletes will be competing in the tournament, Benedictine Military School sophomore Matthew Gavin and Effingham Middle School 7th grader Sky Yvon. 

The fourth annual tournament held by the Georgia Blind Sports Association, sponsored by Window World of Savannah, will run from Friday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 21 at the St. Peter the Apostle School and Parish Center located at 7020 Concord Rd. 

The games will take place from 3-7 p.m. Friday and 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday. The bronze, silver and gold medal matches will be played from 8:30 a.m.-noon Sunday.

Georgia Power, Savannah Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Levy Jewelers, Speedi Sign and the Knights of Columbus Islands Council are also sponsoring the event, a spokesperson for the Georgia Blind Sports Association said.