IBSA Names New Executive Board

The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) members gathered at the 9th General Assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they elected the IBSA Executive Board for 2013-2017. The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) is proud to announce three new members of the IBSA Executive Board; Joe Walsh has been named the Vice President of IBSA, Mark Lucas has been named IBSA America Chairman, and John Potts serves as Secretary on the Goalball Sports Committee.

Joe Walsh has been integral to the success of the United States Association of Blind Athletes and the U.S Paralympic movement.  Walsh has been a USABA member for the past 27 years, competing as a B3 cross country skier at the 1986 and 1990 World Championships as well as the 1988 and 1992 Paralympic Winter Games.  More recently, he served in the Paralympic Division of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 2001-2012. Currently, Walsh works to increase participation in sports for youth and young adults who are blind and visually impaired as Director of Adaptive Sports New England in Boston.

 While at USABA for the past 20 years Lucas has planned many international events including the Pan American Games and World Youth Championships. Lucas’s goal for serving as the IBSA America Chairman is to link countries together, especially in the Pan Am region, and form a stronger common bond to provide sports for people who are blind and visually impaired.

John Potts is USABA’s goalball High Performance Sports Director, and manages goalball from the grassroots level to the elite teams. Potts has coordinated and participated in many international goalball tournaments and can provide IBSA great insight on the goalball community. His main goal is to strengthen the sport of goalball across the world and provide more opportunities for people who are blind and visually impaired to play goalball.

“Having Joe and Mark on the IBSA Executive Board and John on the Goalball Sports Committee is a wonderful opportunity to expand and promote sports for people who are blind and visually impaired. I know their leadership skills and success in coordinating international events will have a great impact on the blind sports movement. I look forward to the work they will do and the accomplishment they will make within the next four years,” said Dave Bushland, USABA Board President.

For more information on IBSA and the elected Executive Board go to: www.ibsasport.org.