New Jersey Honeybees and Seattle King Cobras Triumph at 2024 USABA Goalball National Championships

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 Paralympic Games.

Three days of intense competition ended on Sunday at the USABA Goalball National Championships hosted at Turnstone Center. The New Jersey Honeybees successfully defended their title in the women’s division, and the Seattle King won the men’s division.

Women’s Division

The New Jersey Honeybees won decisively with a 8-4 victory over the Ohio Monarchs in the women’s final. The Honeybees were comprised of local Fort Wayne athlete, Lisa Czechowski as well as Amanda Dennis, Jameisha Murrell, Jasmine Murrell, Shelley Palmadessa, and Jennia Tiberi. The Honeybees were coached by Dan Palmadessa. On the silver-medal-winning Ohio Monarchs were Yaqi Schumacher, Mindy Cook, Sarah Cowan, Makalia Lama, Eliana Mason. In the women’s bronze-medal contest, the Atlanta Blazers defeated DC Corruption 7-2. The Blazers’ roster – Kassandra Hernandez, Ali Lawson, Ellashae Maddox and Asya Miller.

Men’s Division

The Seattle King Cobras ran the tables over the three-day event, capping off the tournament with an 9-3 victory over the New York Empire in the men’s final. The Seattle King Cobras were represented by Antonio Rozier, Richard Ah-Siu, Nathan Purcell, Daryl Walker. The New York Empire reached the final with a three-man roster made up of Tiasheem Brown, Alvin Suarez, Jahron Black, and Mauel Pima. Third place was the Omega with an 8-7 win over the NJ Thunder. The Omega roster included John Kusku, Alex Williams, Alex Harris, and Kelvin Atkinson.

Awards

At the conclusion of the tournament, each team voted for the most valuable player in the men’s and women’s divisions. Garnering the most votes in the men’s division and earning the Tom Parrigin MVP Award was John Kusku of Omega In the women’s division, Haley Andress of the DC Corruption received the Sharon  Gunderman MVP Award. Parrigin and Gunderman were longtime contributors to goalball in the U.S. whose legacies live on through these annual awards recognizing excellent play at the USABA National Goalball Championships.

The final award presented was the Cody Carmicle Spirit of the Game Award, named in honor of USA Men’s National Goalball Team athlete Cody Carmicle who passed away in 2021 after a courageous battle with cancer. The award exemplifies all Cody embodied and is voted on by the competing teams. It is presented to a player who displays dedication, commitment to excellence and love of the game. The 2023 recipient was Alex Harris, a member of Omega.

For more information on the sport of goalball visit www.usaba.org/about-goalball.

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