Men’s Goalball Team Qualifies for Paris 2024 and Local Athlete Honored as Flag Bearer during Parapan American Games in Chile
With its silver-medal performance at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, the USA Goalball Men’s Team secured a berth in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The Parapan American Games represented the final qualification opportunity for the U.S. team who train at Turnstone Center, an Olympic & Paralympic Training Site in Fort Wayne. The team’s win over Canada in the semifinals locked up one of eight men’s team spots at next summer’s Paralympics.
The spirit of Team USA was also rewarded when Lisa Czechowski, a Fort Wayne resident, was bestowed with the honor of carrying the American flag in the Parapan American Games Closing Ceremony by her Team USA teammates. Each sport in the Team USA delegation submits an athlete they feel is most worthy of the honor, and the final flagbearer is then decided by representatives from each sport.
“We know six out of the eight teams going to Paris, so during this break, we can formalize some assessments of the teams we’re facing and make the necessary adjustments,” said U.S. Men’s Head Coach Keith Young.
The U.S. team received balanced scoring throughout the tournament, in which they compiled a 5-1 record. Merren (Greenville, Mich.) led the team with 15 goals, followed by Young’s (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 14 and King’s (Virginia Beach, Va.) 13. Also chipping in valuable minutes and goals were Zach Buhler (Huntington, Ind.) with six, Matt Simpson (Smyrna, Ga.) with five, and Tre’Shaun Faison (Orange Park, Fla.) with four.
“We see where we stand right now going into Paris, so we’ll focus on honing our craft for these next nine months,” Buhler added. “Medaling here is awesome, but we want to medal in Paris.”
Since the first Paralympics in 1976, the U.S. men’s goalball team has won five medals (one gold, three silver, and one bronze. At the last Games held in Tokyo in 2021, the men’s team finished fourth after reaching the bronze medal game. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will be held August 28-September 8.
The athletes announced to represent Team USA in goalball at the Paris 2024 Games will be announced before July 19.
