Members who inspire. Spirit in Motion

• Author: Amanda Robert
• Pages: 62-64

MEMBERS WHO INSPIRE

Spirit in Motion

Matt Simpson competed in goalball at his second Paralympics in Tokyo

BY AMANDA ROBERT

It’s hard not to be impressed when

you listen to Matt Simpson de-

scribe goalball.

In the sport, two teams of three

players who are visually impaired face

off against each other on a  oor about

the size of a volleyball court. They all

wear eyeshades, position themselves

with the help of string lines and score

by throwing a 3-pound basketball-size

ball that has bells inside it across their

opponent’s goal line.

Simpson says that the ball must

touch the ground, but when it is

rolled or released through a special

spin throw, it can reach speeds of up

to 50 mph .

“The team on the other end, instead

of getting out of the way of the ball, is

getting in front of the ball and using

their body to defend a 30-foot-wide

goal,” says Simpson, an associate in

Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C., of ce.

“So imagine everyone is a soccer goalie,

except you’re using your body because

the ball is moving extremely fast, and

everyone is blindfolded so there is no

visual advantage.”

Simpson was 10 when he attended a

sports camp hosted by the United States

Association of Blind Athletes in North

Carolina and discovered goalball, a

sport developed in 1946 to help rehabil-

itate World War II veterans.

He has since competed at the sport’s

highest level, playing on the U.S. men’s

national team that won the silver medal

at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de

Janeiro and representing the United

States again at the delayed 2020 Games

in Tokyo last summer.

“In so many other areas of life, I was

limited by my visual impairment, and

it had a lot to do with how successful

I could be,” says Simpson, who has min-

imal light perception and uses a white

ABA Insider edited by

LEE RAWLES

lee.rawles@americanbar.org

Members Who Inspire is an ABA Journal series prof‌i ling exceptional ABA members. If you know members who do unique and important work,

you can nominate them for this series by emailing inspire@abajournal.com.

ABA JOURNAL | FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022

Photo courtesy of Sidley Austin

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