Picture losing your sight just as you hit junior high. Sports? You’re involved in them all from baseball to basketball, from football to cross country. Then you can’t see the ball coming your way, the baseline, the hoop, or goal. But thanks to the prevalence of blind sports like goalball and beep baseball, athletes losing their sight need not take much time on the sidelines.
Zach Buhler from Huntington, Indiana is one of those athletes who didn’t stay on the sidelines long after going blind. Most recently, WANE TV, channel 15 here in Fort Wayne, IN featured Zach’s story and ambitions. You can also catch an earlier article at the United States Association of Blind Athletes’ website here.
We often feature goalball on Boldly Blind and for good reason. Besides being a great sport for those of us who are blind, it’s a fantastic display of athleticism that anyone who’s a sports fanatic would appreciate. So, to help promote its intrigue and popularity, here’s a look at the upcoming calendar of events over the next few months. Regional tournaments are in full swing from Washington to Georgia. If you’re in the area where these tournaments go on, I encourage you to stop in to watch athletes like Zach Buhler, Tyler Merren, Daryl Walker, and others in action. In addition to the calendar of events mentioned here, Chicago will be the site for the Midwest regionals and Philadelphia will welcome teams for the Mid-Atlantic event!
Of course, I won’t be able to make the regional tournaments in person, but being the gym rat I am, you can bet I’ll be checking out the USABA goalball championships to be held here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After all, Turnstone, a fitness center designed for athletes with all kinds of physical disabilities, will be the host site. I hope a bunch of other fans will turn out for what will prove to be some exciting play.
As I hear about links to audiovisual broadcasting or coverage, I’ll be sure to post that on the blog as well. Let’s support our blind athletes individually and athletics for people who are blind as featured at www.usaba.org. After all, we need not wait for every fourth year for the Para-Olympics to follow the competition.
Boldly Blind 