Day in the Life: Cody Carmicle – Goalball

Cody Carmicle (Lafayette, Ind.) is a resident athlete at the Goalball Center of Excellence at Turnstone in Fort Wayne. Carmicle first learned about the sport of goalball from a teacher in high school. He was introduced to the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team when Coach Boyle and some of the players visited his school to do a demonstration.

Since discovering the sport, he’s represented Team USA at three international tournaments on the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team in 2018 – Malmo Intercup in Sweden,  the International Trakai Goalball Tournament in Lithuania and the International Goalball Challenge in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Carmicle aspires to compete for the U.S. Men’s Goalball Team at the Paralympic Games one day. We asked him to share what a typical day at the Goalball Center of Excellence is like for resident athletes. Check it out!

I’ve been a resident athlete at the Goalball Center of Excellence since 2017. The resident program has helped me as a goalball athlete, but it’s also helped me get in better shape. I’m much faster and stronger than I was when I first arrived. I have access to trainers and nutrition staff who help keep me on track off the court. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some amazing people as a result of being a resident athlete at the Goalball Center of Excellence. I’m proud to be on the U.S. Men’s Goalball Resident Team. Here is a peek at what a typical day looks like for us.

7:00 a.m. 
My alarm goes off and I get up – no snoozing! I have oatmeal or cereal in our shared kitchen and say good morning to my teammates who are also eating breakfast. After breakfast, I brush my teeth and head over to the Goalball Center of Excellence where we have a permanent, dedicated goalball court with Taraflex flooring. As I walk to the gym, I’m usually listening to music to get my mind right for practice.

8:00 a.m. 
Once I arrive at the gym, I change into my goalball gear and I’m ready to go! Everyone does a personal warm up before we come together as a team. Today, I throw the slam ball to get my arm loosened up.

9:00 a.m. 
After everyone has had a chance to warm up, we officially start practice. Coach tells us what’s on the agenda for the day. Today, we’re playing different teams of two-on-two. First to 15, win by 2.

11:30 a.m. 
LUNCHTIME! We gather the guys and go over to Parkview Medical Center – where we eat each day for lunch. My go-to is a chicken or turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and a lot of oregano and basil with jalapeño chips and a strawberry and blueberry yogurt parfait.

12:30 p.m. 
After lunch, we take a break at the house – relax, take care of anything we need to – before strength and conditioning.

1:30 p.m. 
We walk back over to the Goalball Center of Excellence from the houses (it’s a quick, three-minute walk) for an afternoon of strength and conditioning with our strength coach, EJ.

2:00 p.m. 
“WARM IT UP” – that’s the first thing we hear every workout right when Coach EJ walks in. So, that’s exactly what we do. Today, we’re doing a circuit workout. Everyone gets assigned where to start our workout and run through the circuits until 3:30. I’m short on breath by the end of our workouts with Coach EJ!

4:00 p.m. 
Depending on how sore I am, I’ll sometimes take an ice bath to help my body recover from training.

5:00 p.m. 
Back at the house, we shower and change and start talking about dinner. Tonight, Calahan and I need to pick some things up from the grocery store so we walk to the store together.

7:00 p.m. 
Time to cook dinner! Tonight, we’re having spaghetti. We always have that good music playing while we cook. By the way, we like to add crushed red pepper to our spaghetti sauce – highly recommend it!

8:00 p.m.
After dinner, we clean up and turn on the TV. Most of the time, we’re watching ESPN but occasionally we’ll watch a movie.

11:00 p.m. 
What a day! Now it’s time to settle down and get ready to knock out in preparation for doing this all over again tomorrow!

Learn more about the USA Goalball Resident Program.

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