by Daniel Parker, RDPFS Contributor:
Reflecting on the Paralympics that concluded in September, RDPFS interviewed Mark Ackermann, Chairman of the Board for U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA), who attended the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. USABA is the national governing body for blind soccer (known as blind football internationally) and men’s and women’s goalball. Ackermann spoke about his experience in Paris: “Parisians … were incredibly welcoming to everybody who was there for the Olympics and Paralympics. … They made it easy for those who were sighted and those who have visual impairment to move around. Almost every corner … had audible walk signals. The Métro had plenty of people to help those who were visually impaired, they had plenty of announcements that you could hear and understand … It was the most welcoming experience I and many of our athletes have had.” He noted that even in goalball, where the players need absolute silence to concentrate, the large audience was quick to understand and oblige. He concluded: “It really was an incredible, life-altering experience … to not only witness the athleticism and the grit and the work of these athletes to get to where they are on the international Paralympic stage, but their sportsmanship, their willingness to really put everything on the line for their country is just an incredible thing to watch … It was really heartwarming that the Parisians took the time to come to these sports, that frankly many of them didn’t know much about, but learned so much from the opportunity to see athletes at the elite level play a Paralympic sport.” The USABA is currently in the process of developing a national team for blind soccer that will compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. “In the near future, we’ll be naming a national team. This does not necessarily mean the national team that will go to the Paralympics in 2028. But because we are going to be getting into some international competitions, we will have a national team in blind football, and that team will be named in the next month or so.” The competitions will take place at home and abroad. A team is named once a year, and the Paralympic team will be named just prior to that event. More information can be found in many previous bulletin articles on this year’s Paralympics and past Games.
