Lake Placid to Host Veterans’ Goalball Training Event

The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) has announced that Lake Placid, New York, will host a goalball camp for veterans. The event will take place at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center.

The camp will run from March 24-28. No previous experience in goalball is required. Complete registration is available at this site. 

This event is a training camp for beginner and intermediate players. USABA is inviting any veteran with an interest in learning more about the game or sharpening their skills to apply. This camp will give participants the chance to train with US National team coaches. Expenses will be covered for selected veterans.

Registration is due by February 20. Please send any questions to Matt Simpson at msimpson@usaba.org or (719) 866-3019.

USABA is a Colorado-based 501(c) (3) organization that provides life-enriching sports opportunities for every individual with a visual impairment.  A member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, USABA provides athletic opportunities in various sports including, but not limited to track and field, nordic and alpine skiing, biathlon, judo, wrestling, swimming, tandem cycling, powerlifting and goalball (a team sport for the blind and visually impaired).

Sports opportunities allow people who are blind and visually impaired to develop independence through competition, without unnecessary restrictions. Like sighted people, the blind can share in the thrill of victory and the reality of defeat.

In addition to providing people who are blind and visually impaired with athletic opportunities, the second part of USABA's mission is to change society's negative stereotypes concerning the abilities of blind people as well as other disabled individuals.  Combating stereotypes is achieved by both educating the public through various media avenues as well as by training athletes to enter schools and community organizations to directly address disability issues.

USABA was founded by Dr. Charles Buell in 1976 with the purpose of improving the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired. That year, 27 young men and women were selected to represent the United States in the first Olympiad for the Disabled in Toronto, Canada. As a result of this Olympic involvement, a group of national leaders, educators and coaches of the visually impaired met to discuss the need for an organization to structure, promote and sponsor competitions for people who are blind and visually impaired throughout the United States.