FORT WAYNE, Ind. (August 7, 2024) – More than 70 athletes representing 12 teams from across the United States converged at Fort Wayne’s Turnstone Center August 2-4 for the 2024 U.S. Association of Blind Athletes’ (USABA) Goalball National Championships. All these athletes competing qualified to compete in the national championships by competing at one or more national qualifiers earlier this year. Competitors include seven members of the 2020 USA Paralympic Goalball Men’s and Women’s Team, many of whom trained at Turnstone Center as part of the USA Goalball National Team Resident Athlete Program, at various times, leading into the 2020 Tokyo…
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Twenty-two teams went head-to-head at the USABA Southeast National Goalball Qualifier, May 24-26, at the Smyrna Community Center in Smyrna, Georgia. The tournament was divided into an eight-team men's A division, an eight-team men's B division and a six-team women's division. In an exciting women's final, the Ohio Monarchs edged the Atlanta Blazers, 7-6. The Monarchs roster featured Tokyo 2020 Paralympic teammates Mindy Cook and Eliana Mason. They were joined by Makalia Lama, Yaqi Schumacher and Leah Smeltzer, and coached by Keith Young and James Wallace. Ohio Monarchs (l to r) Coach Keith Young, Eliana Mason, Yaqi Schumacher, Makalia Lama,…
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The USA Goalball men’s team captured its fifth Paralympic medal and third silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Led by head coach Mike Legé, the U.S. squad was comprised of a balanced mix of Paralympic veterans and newcomers in three-time Paralympian Tyler Merren (Coral Springs, Fla.), two-time Paralympians Joe Hamilton (Sacramento, Calif.) and Daryl Walker (Jacksonville, Fla.), and first-time Paralympians Andy Jenks (Wilmington, Del.), John Kusku (Commerce Township, Mich.) and Matt Simpson (Smyrna, Ga.). A packed Maracana Stadium hosted the opening ceremony on September 7 as Rio welcomed Latin America’s first Paralympic Games. After a long wait to…
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Following three straight Paralympic Games without a podium appearance and coming off an 11th-place finish in the 12-team tournament at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, the USA Goalball men’s team came into the Athens 2004 Games set to reverse its fortunes. John Mulhern was the only returning team member from the Sydney Games. He was joined on the squad by first-time Paralympians Chris Dodds, Daniel Gallant, Tyler Merren and Donte Mickens, as well as Eddie Munro who had competed in two previous Paralympic Games as a track and field athlete but was making his Paralympic debut in goalball. For the first…
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As the USA Goalball men’s team journeys along on the Road to Paris, during the month of April we’ll be taking a peek in the rearview mirror at past Paralympic Games where the U.S. men’s team reached the podium. This week we reflect on the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, Korea. The USA Goalball men’s team competing at the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, Korea, returned all three starters from the 1984 gold-medal squad, so hopes for a repeat podium appearance were high. Future USABA Hall of Famers Reni Jackson (Louisville, Ky.) and James Neppl (Rock Island, Ill.) joined center…
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