The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) is an

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

founded in 1976 to increase the number and quality of world-class athletic opportunities for

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

who are blind or

visually impaired Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

. USABA has reached over 100,000 blind individuals, and have over 3,000 current members who compete in thirteen sports, most prominently

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

. The USABA National Goalball Qualifier took place from June 21-23 at the Haddon Heights Community Center in

Haddon Heights, New Jersey Haddon Heights is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,495, an increase of 22 (+0.3%) from the 2010 census count of 7,473, which in turn reflected a d ...

. The tournament saw an intense competition with a total of 21 teams divided across three divisions: a ten-team men’s top division, a six-team women’s division, and a five-team men’s B division.

Overview

USABA is a

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

-based organization whose mission is to empower U.S Americans who are blind or visually impaired and promote a healthy lifestyle by providing opportunities in sports, recreation, and other physical activities. Alongside this, USABA is focused on deconstructing misconceptions about the abilities of people who are blind or visually impaired by educating and inspiring the public through media outreach. USABA is open to any aspiring or current

athletes An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including trac ...

who are blind or visually impaired, coaches,

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

, or supporters who wish to involve themselves in this

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

History

USABA was founded b
Dr. Charles Buell
in 1976. That year, the first Olympiad for the Disabled was hosted in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, with 27 men and women representing the United States. After this event, a group of national leaders, coaches, and educators began to discuss the importance of an organization specifically focused on promoting and sponsoring competitions for people who are blind or visually impaired. This led to the creation of USABA. Other original founding members include Arthur Copeland, Judy Whyte, and Lou Moneymaker.

Sports

USABA supports 13 different sports, including: * Beep baseball *

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

* 5-a-side soccer *

Goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

Powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

Skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

Track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

Military sports Military sports are sports practiced by the military. They are the subject of international competitions, such as the Military World Games, with an objective relating to the physical training of military. Particular sports may be chosen to improve ...

The most prominent

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, which was designed specifically for blind athlete

Events

USABA hosts various events, including development camps, national championships, and competitions such as the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. Past events include the 1987 Can-Am Pacific Games, the 1992 Youth Championships, and the 1984 International Games for the Disabled. More recently, USABA has partnered with the Anthem Foundation to launch the National Fitness Challenge, aimed at encouraging physical activity among visually impaired individuals. USABA also promotes National Blind Sports Day, which raises awareness about sports opportunities for the blind..

Awards and recognition

In 2019, USABA received the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award from the

National Federation of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in that country. Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. Overview An ...

, which honors organizations contributing to the blind community. USABA is also recognized as a High Performance Management Organization by the

Sponsors & Partnered Associations

USABA collaborates with organizations such as the United States Paralympic Team, the Anthem Foundation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Industries for the Blind. It also works with groups like Ski for Light and the

International Blind Sports Federation The International Blind Sports Federation () is a non-profit organisation founded 1981 in Paris, France. It was formerly known as the International Blind Sports Association. IBSA's mission is to promote the full integration of blind and parti ...

on specific events.

Scholarship program

Each year, USABA offers

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need, research ...

, including the I C You Foundation Valor Achievement Award and the Arthur E. and Helen Copeland Scholarship, to support blind or visually impaired students.{{cite web , title=USABA Scholarship Program - United States Association of Blind Athletes , url=https://www.usaba.org/membership/scholarships/ , access-date=3 October 2019

References

External links

Website
Blindness organizations in the United States Parasports organizations in the United States