Blind soccer development camp at SoccerHaus Thursday and Friday
The United States Association of Blind Athletes is organizing a blind soccer development camp Thursday and Friday at SoccerHaus, 4855 List Drive, Colorado Springs.
The United States Association of Blind Athletes is based in downtown Colorado Springs .
Coaches and athletes from across the country will converge on the northwest Colorado Springs facility where participants will be taught core fundamentals, key skillset building and strategies of the game.
Margaret Domka will be officiating at the camp. She is the only referee from the United States to officiate the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Camp activities include development camps Thursday and Friday, and a scrimmage Friday from 4-6 p.m.
The camp roster includes Noah Beckman (Dublin, Ohio), Kevin Brown (Falls Church, Va.), Ricardo Castaneda (Fort Worth, Texas), Charles Catherine (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Antoine Craig (Richmond, Va.), Cody Kirchner (New Brunswick, N.J.), Sara Litzler (San Antonio, Texas), Bailey Martin (Hubbard, Iowa), Alvaro Mora (Phoenix, Ariz.), Jefferson Palacios (Baltimore, Md.) and Casimir Werda (Novi, Mich.).
The coaches are Giorgi Papov (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Katie Smith (Columbus, Ohio) and Tim Taylor (Elkton, Md.).
Officials for the camp are Skye Arthur-Banning, USABA Board Vice-Chair (Pendleton, S.C.) and Margaret Domka (Clemson, S.C.).
Blind soccer — also known as 5-a-side soccer, or football 5-a-side — is an adaptation of soccer for athletes with a visual impairment.
Blind soccer debuted at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games and has been contested at every Games since. Blind soccer is played in 60 countries and has become the fastest-growing Paralympic sport in the world.
The United States will have an automatic blind soccer bid for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. The USABA began its blind soccer programming in earnest in 2018 in its preparation for the Games. USABA is striving to attain the same world-class level with blind soccer as it has successfully done with goalball, winner of 11 Paralympic medals.
For more information, visit usaba.org/sports/soccer-5-a-side.
The United States Association of Blind Athletes is organizing a blind soccer development camp on Aug. 26-27, 2021 at SoccerHaus in Colorado Springs.