Goalball Coaches Named for World Youth Championships

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The U.S.. Association of Blind Athletes is pleased to announce the naming of Michael Lege (St. Augustine, Fla.) and Christy Householter (Garland, Texas) as head coaches for the U.S.. Boys’ and Girls’ Junior National Goalball Teams, respectively.

Lege and Householter will lead Team U.S.A in its quest for gold at the 2005 World Youth Championships, August 4-10 in Colorado Springs. Members of the U.S.. Boys’ and Girls’ Junior National Goalball Teams will be named in April.

Goalball is a team sport played by blind and visually impaired athletes around the world. A team of three athletes on each side of the court aims to launch a ball at speeds of more than 30 mph into the opposing side's goal on an indoor volleyball-sized court. All athletes are blindfolded to create a state of total blackness and four bells encased in a ball the size of a basketball help the athletes track the ball's location.

Although each of the head coaches will be leading his/her first international team, the duo brings a wealth of experience to their positions.

Lege has served as a goalball coach at the Florida school for the Deaf and the Blind for 15 years, first as an assistant under Tom Parrigin and as head coach beginning in 2000.  During his tenure, the FSDB Boys’ Goalball Team has won seven USABA National High School Goalball Championship titles with several athletes going on to qualify for Paralympic and World Championship Teams.

Householter has worked extensively with the U.S.. Women’s National Goalball Team, assisting with coaching duties for the U.S.. Women’s training camps since 2001. Householter also is a coach and official for Texas Goalball as well as instructor for youth sports camps throughout Texas.

Lege will be assisted by Lou Thomson (Spartanburg, S.C.) Thomson has worked with visually impaired youth since 2000, coaching the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind Girls’ Goalball Team to a High School National Championship in 2002 and a silver medal finish for the SCSDB Boys’ Team in 2004.

James Crozier (St. Augustine, Fla.) has been named as the assistant coach for the girls’ team, having worked with Lege at FSDB as the head coach for the girls’ goalball team.  Crozier’s athletes have won silver medals at the High School National Championships.

For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USABA Communications Director, at (719) 630-0422, ext. 10 or njomantas@usaba.org

USABA, a member organization of the U.S.. Olympic Committee, is a nonprofit organization that provides training for blind and visually impaired athletes for competition in nine sports. USABA members range from blind children developing sports skills to elite athletes who train for competitions such as the Paralympic Games, the world's second largest athletic competition that draws more than 4,000 disabled athletes.