Team USA - Going for Gold at Tokyo Paralympics

For the first time in US history, the Paralympic Games will be broadcast during daytime and prime time hours on major network channels. In this episode, our host, Shelly Houser, sits down with Mary Hodge and Nina Kult from Team USA's Para Powerlifting team and Goalball Paralympian Zach Buhler to talk about the Tokyo 2020 games and their journeys to get there.  Since this recording, the team has qualified their team of nine.

But that's just the beginning of this two-part interview! Join us for the second part on August 20th to listen to our podcast interview with Great Britain's wheelchair fencer, Oliver Lam-Watson! Hear him speak about his first trip to the Paralympics, his training routine, and his thoughts on Simone Biles. 

To find out more about our guest, visit these links:
Websites: https://www.usaba.org/usa-goalball/
https://www.logan.edu/usapp/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nina.kult
https://www.facebook.com/TeamUSA/
Twitter: @USAMGoalball
https://twitter.com/TeamUSA?s=20


Want to be a guest on our show?  Connect with us at:
Website
Facebook
LinkedIn
X
Instagram

Transcript

Intro: 0:03

Welcome to DisAbility Talks, a podcast produced by Abilities in Motion. I'm your host, Shelly Houser. Join us for real conversations and no nonsense talk from everyday people with disabilities, living their most independent everyday lives. Tune in for the latest news surrounding disability, accessibility, and independence. W here conversations aren't dissed and stories that need to be told aren't missed. So let's talk.

Shelly: 0:31

Welcome back listeners. I'm your host Shelly Houser and today's guests. Join us from the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic teams, Team USA, Goalball, Zach Bueller, USA High-performance para powerlifting manager, Mary Hodge, and the director of marketing and communications for USA's para powerlifting team Nina Kult join us today. Good morning, and thank you so much for being here. How is everybody today?

Nina: 0:55

Hey,

Zach: 0:55

Hey, Thank you for having me for sure!

Mary: 0:58

Good, How's everybody,?

Shelly: 0:59

Zach, let's start with you. Tell us what the goalball sport is and how you got started in this sport?

Zach: 1:06

Yeah, so goalball is a sport for blind and visually impaired athletes. The difference kind of between goalball and a lot of other sports is that it's actually its own sport. It's not adapted from any other sport that was made for blind and visually impaired athletes. And so everyone's blindfolded just to even the playing field, ball has bells inside of it, kind of rolling it along the ground to try to score and trying to block it with whatever part of our body we can kind of like a soccer goalie. So it's very back and forth, high intensity, you know, just a fast paced game at times. So I really love it. I actually got started back in, u h, beginning of 2016. I went to kind of a community program at Turnstone in Fort Wayne, Indiana where the men's team were actually having their residency program, getting ready for Rio and just k ind o f went up there to check it out. Didn't have a clue what it was. I we n t up there right before practice, like 30 minutes before and was just kind of checking out the ball, checking out the court and was kind of just thro wn it over hand and didn't know how to play. And I was like, man, if y ou know, I got a pretty good arm. If this is how you throw it and you can just throw it in the air. Like I think I'm going to be pretty decent if I'm playing against some other blind people, but then once, you know, I kind a got into it and learn the rules and the ropes of it. It, I just absolutely fell in love, head over heels for. It was just the sport that I could do and really be successful at. I've always been an athlete. And so, you know, growing up it was, I was a three sport athlete with football, baseball, basketball, and all that stuff. So when I lost my vision, it was just didn't really have anything and couldn't be competitive, really any sport that I played just because of my vision, which was really discouraging. But then when I found goalball, I just absolutely fell in love, just started training with Team USA and helping them out any way I could. And it w as nev er really expecting to make team just wanted to make the team better and just kept pushing, you kno w, th ese last five years and, uh, it all paid off in the end. So it re al ly exciting, loved the sport to death and can't wait to represent team USA and g lob al.

Shelly: 3:13

Congratulations.

Zach: 3:14

Thank you.

Shelly: 3:15

So you're actually pretty new at this. I mean, some are parathletes trained for years and years.

Zach: 3:19

Yeah. It's kind of crazy. Like one of my teammates has he's been playing, this is his 20th year on team USA for goalball and like just looking back, like I have five years under my belt.

Shelly: 3:29

yeah

Zach: 3:31

I was four when he started playing. So just kind of like a crazy realization and being able to play with some of these, you know, veterans and really comes in handy and really helped up my game quite a bit, just talking to them, listening to them, observing, just learning, I think as a huge piece to it and really helped my game just completely observing and watching. And so it's, it's, it's crazy that, you know, I've only been in five years and that, um, I got the opportunity to make this team and, um, ended up making it. So it's, it's been, it's been a journey to say the least it's been a crazy five years, but it's, I love it to death. So I'm so excited.

Shelly: 4:17

So let me ask you some, because I know a goal ball is, but I don't know how it works. So are there two halves or are t here quarters and how much does each ball score? Is it three points like basketball or one like soccer? How does it all work?

Zach: 4:33

Yeah, so it's, um, just kind of back and forth. We play two 12 minute halves kind of stoppages every out of bounds, anything like that, each goal is worth one. There's also, you know, penalties involved and stuff like that. A lot of strategy goes involved to try to score and it's, it's way more difficult than I think I even realized, uh, when I started to score and score accurately, when you can't see, and then, you know, defense wise, it, it's also pretty difficult. And so it's just a lot of back and forth. Everyone gets, uh, I think four time outs for the whole game and kind of like soccer rules is how we explain it to, you know, people who've never really seen it before. Kind of like soccer goalies on the court. The ball weighs about three pounds, a little bigger than a basketball doesn't bounce very well, but some of these guys can bounce it over people so.

Shelly: 5:26

How do you find the goal? I mean, is it, is there some sort of bell or something around the goal so you can know where it's located?

Zach: 5:35

Yeah. So the goal is, it goes the whole baseline. It goes the whole nine meters across and it's about a four or five feet high. So it's kind of like a hockey net is how we describe it. You just kind of backed up, you can find the goal. We use the goal a lot for orientation, just finding our spots and then also there's actually string underneath all the lines. So it's tactile as well. So we can feel in our different spots and feel where we're at also, you know, communicating with teammates and figuring out where they are in relation to us and just really kind of fine tuning that.

Shelly: 6:10

Okay. So 2020 really kept you busy personally between COVID and getting qualified and getting married in 2020. What's been your biggest challenge getting to the Tokyo games?

Zach: 6:21

Honestly, probably my, my biggest challenge in May, mid May of 2020, I ended up tearing my meniscus. And so I didn't really get that. I, you know, went to a bunch of doctors, MRI tests weren't really showing anything. So finally they ended up just having a surgery just to check it out and found out that yeah, it was torn. So that was back in October of 2020. And so pretty much from October to December, I was trying to rehab and just laying around and recovering and, you know, hadn't really done anything since M ay really like high intense wise, just because it was affecting my knee pretty bad. And so pretty much from January till even now, like just trying to rehab, just trying to get to a level that, you know, I need to be. And that was probably my biggest challenge. And then just, you know, dealing with life in general, you know, getting married was so great. I was so happy and such a great time in my life and the best, best day of my life by far, but then balancing personal life, going up to Fort Wayne that trained and being away from my wife. And that's probably been the second biggest challenge after overcoming the knee. Like knee is easy to overcome, but you know, being away from home and away from family is, is pretty difficult. Didn't really settle in, I think until, you know, after I got married, which was even harder to be away, so yeah.

Shelly: 7:50

Well, good. Congratulations on the wedding.

Zach: 7:52

Thank you so much.

Shelly: 7:53

And she's going to be able to go with you to Tokyo?

Zach: 7:56

Unfortunately no, we, u h, no spectators and not even local spectators anymore. It's g oing t o be empty gyms, but I'm still so pumped and looking forward to it. She's definitely g oing t o be watching a t 3:00 AM or whenever we, whenever they air over here. So, u m, she's pumped and she's, she's excited. She's she might be more excited than I am.

Shelly: 8:19

Well, we're all going to cheer you on all over the world. We're very excited for all of this.

Zach: 8:24

Yeah, absolutely.

Shelly: 8:25

Yeah. So Mary, you are the high-performance power, para, power lifting manager. Can you introduce us to the sport of para, power lifting? I mean, how much weight can they lift and what are the rules of your sport?

Mary: 8:37

So there's 20 body weight categories, 10 men and 10 women in relation to how athletes compete, uh, athletes compete based on gender and body weight. You cannot compete in a smaller body weight against the heavier body weight and same on the female side. Um, it's what we call it progressive bar, which means the bar starts at the lightest weight and goes to the heaviest weight. Every athlete gets three attempts. So you do not do three attempts consecutively. So let's just say yourself, Shelly, myself, and Nina were competing because we're all females. And we were all in the same, very small bodyweight class. Ha hA!

Shelly: 9:12

(Laughter)

Mary: 9:15

( Laughter) Um, if you started out with a hundred p ound S helly and I was lifting 102 pounds, and you know, w e're lifting 104 pounds, you, it would go progressively meaning a hundred, 102,and 104, and then we would swing back. But you may not start at the lightest weight on your second attempt. Perhaps you went 110 and I failed at 102. So I repeated 102. Therefore on that second attempt, I would start first and then Nina killed it at 104. So she went up to 120. And so it would start with me at 102 because I missed my first attempt. You at 110 and then Nina at 120. So that's what we mean by a progressive bar. It's always exciting. It's always exciting to see any athlete compete and bench and receive their bench. If you get three white lights, it's a good attempt. If you get two white lights, it's a good attempt. If you get three reds, it's kind of like the(buzz sound) that you hear on game shows. There are three referees, a head referee who' s sit s behind the athlete that's laying on the bench. And then two referees on the side. One of the differences of our sport from the able-bodied, um, be n ch press is that all of our athletes put their legs up, our benc hes lon ger by about two or three feet and wider. Um, and that enables every athlete in any dis ability category to be on the same playing field.

Shelly: 10:41

Okay.

Mary: 10:42

So the rule is no pressing at all through the bench. Um, now an athlete with a single amputation specifically who was wearing his or her prosthetic, we strap them down below the groin area, above the knee, below the knee, above the ankle. That is the current rule that is up to the athlete and coach to work out how the most amount of straps you can use are two, the least are none. You can use one. So this is all worked through through training and the straps will give an athlete a level of, I want to say more ability if you use your quadriceps or your upper thighs to press into that strap, you can receive some resistance which can help your arch and yo ur back to press the bar off your chest. You also have to hold them far emotionless on yo ur chest, which is so it's not a rack where you're bringing the bar down and to uching and going. You have to wait for a command when it's taken out of the rack, which is st art, then you descend, the athlete, holds it motionless on the chest, no sinking, um, and then presses up and waits for rack before they rack. So that's the actual bench proper.

Shelly: 11:49

And their arms have to be completely straight up correct.

Mary: 11:53

And what we call locked, unless an athlete has a degree of a non extension in their elbow and that's during classification, uh, which we won't talk about classification today. Right Zach.?

Zach: 12:04

Exactly right.(laughter)

Mary: 12:11

But either way, yes, primary disability categories. And those are our spinal cord injury, spinal bifida, polio, uh, cerebral palsy, dwarfism, and then what we call the les autres category. So the world les autres is French for"all other", and that is is athetosis, pseudo hypoparathyroidism, disability categories that are not typical, if you will. And I guess I'll end with all of Parasports, not just para powerlifting is the most elite athletes who happen to have a disability. So we don't look at our athletes and say, CP Johnny, we say Johnny, who happens to have CP who is aspiring to be an elite athlete. And I think that's really important for all the listeners to not only hear but share with others. Um, because often the paralympic, it's not the para Olympics we are the Paralympics is looked at like, oh, that's really cool. Those athletes, that, those poor little athletes. That's not what our movement is looking for. We're looking for you look at sport and love the athleticism and the competition.

Shelly: 13:25

So that's using first person language for our listeners that don't know what that is. I am a woman with an amputation.

Mary: 13:31

Correct.

Shelly: 13:33

Zack is a person with blindness. Zach, do you use person first language? Or do you say that you're a blind man?

Zach: 13:40

It just kinda depends, honestly. Um, I often just say, you know, yeah, I'm blind. But it doesn't affect me whatsoever. Like that's the only thing that I have that's different about me. I just might not be able to see what you can see. I always loved playing sports with sighted people too, Just going out and playing basketball and, you know, just seeing where I stack up sometimes. And even, you know, if I get whooped sometimes it's a nd then, you know, Hey, come into my world real quick and we'll see who gets whooped so,

Shelly: 14:10

How how well you down.

Zach: 14:12

Yeah, exactly.

Mary: 14:14

Can I just come on a comment about Zach's sport? U m, very first time I went to goalball was in 2000 a t the c ity Paralympic games. I was there with another athlete and Z ach, the one piece you didn't tell everybody i s the audience has to be quiet.

Shelly: 14:27

Oh!

Mary: 14:29

It is to me, so challenging as a spectator because you're sitting in the audience, you're like wanting to hoot and holler for team USA. And then everybody gives you the look of death and you're like,"What is going on?" So for the 20 minute period, I think it's 20 minutes. Is that right? Zack? That you're playing?

Zach: 14:48

Yeah. Total. Yeah. 12, 12 minute halves. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:51

You're only allowed to cheer when there's a goal scored.

Zach: 14:56

Yup or any stoppage of play. Yeah.

Mary: 14:59

And a purpose of that is so that the ball that Zach described, which almost looked like a volleyball has a bell inside. And so when there's three athletes on each side playing and they're using, um, a lot of times they'll use their body to block the goal. They hear the ball coming because obviously the visually impaired. And so if there were noise in the audience, they wouldn't be able to hear the bell in the ball.

Shelly: 15:22

Oh!

Mary: 15:23

Well, it's a really cool and exciting game, but you have to know how to hush. I'm not going to be loud back in that audience again.

Zach: 15:29

Right!( laughter)

Shelly: 15:30

So not having spectators is actually going to be a great thing for you and your teams, Zack.

Zach: 15:36

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's it, it works out, like we definitely love the spectators. It's also very strange. Like my first g oal b all game e veryone's name was quiet. And I'm n ot, y ou k now, not used to that used to p lay i n basketball, football, baseball, like people cheering all the time. And then it was crazy b ecause once a goal happened, everyone just erupted and it was like,"oh right, people are here!"(laughter) So it's like, Hey,

Shelly: 15:58

(laughter) You forgot?

Zach: 16:00

Yeah, exactly. Like you just get so zoned in and everyone's so just kind of quiet and hushed that you just kind of forget people are there. And then all of a sudden, a goal scores and the place goes crazy. So it's, it's a really cool experience and just kind of be on the court when that happens, but no spectators, but it's all good. It works out in our favor.

Shelly: 16:22

It'll be different for you. So with both of you, what are some things about your sport that you want our listeners to know about? Mary we'll start with you. Is there anything that's really special that you love about this sport?

Mary: 16:35

I absolutely love the sport I've been involved for better than 25 years. I've kind of grown up in the sport. I think it's really exciting. Unlike Zach's sport, which is a team sport. So you were reliant on your other players when our athlete gets on the bench, it's he or she on their own with the coach's box. So as much as I want to say, we are a team because we are a team you're on your own when you're up there on that bench. So the pressure is different. It doesn't make it more or less. It's just different than team sports or athletes. It is a lifestyle. So every time they put something in their mouth, whether it's food or drink, no matter how they live their life, any of the stresses, this all affects our athletes. I think it affects athletes in every sport, but I can only speak to my sport. And so it's really not just about training two or three times a week and bench pressing and auxiliary training. It's about how our athletes li ve t heir life. When they wake up the amount of rest, they get the amount of food they eat, what their intake is, what their output is, what their emotional status is. And so on. And so on, obviously that was challenging. And this past year with COVID, especially in the beginning where athletes didn't have equipment home and our executive director in L ogan university, trying to get out equipment to our athletes because I mean, in truth, I don't think there's anyone on this call or any listener that's go ing t o l isten. That thought COVID would be lasting over a year and a half.

Zach: 17:55

Right.

Mary: 17:56

I remember leaving my then job, my full-time job before I came on to work for para powerlifting and thinking I'd be out like two or three weeks, not a year and.

Shelly: 18:05

A half, Yeah.

Mary: 18:06

So it's a really exciting sport. The athletes train really hard. Having moved our sport from someplace else to Logan University, these last three and a half years, w hile athletes have had the ability to train more,, have access to better coaching. And so I see t heir i ncrease and we're excited every time we're out of the country to represent the United States of America, doing that, to get to that team, you have to qualify domestically. So we run q ualifiers around the country that our athletes have to hit what we call an MQS and minimum qualifying standard t o t hat make team USA. And then that pathway internationally is made by our Federation world power p owerlifting. And you have to show up at certain events and rank literally in the top eight i n the world with no country duplication a nd everybody w eight class. It's very challenging. T here's over 107 countries competing for eight slots in 20 body weight categories. And so as a country, we are growing very quickly. I believe we're one of the fastest Paralympic sports growing in our country, winter or summer, and just watch out b ecause you'll see us all over us and Nina w ill take care of that f or sure.

Shelly: 19:20

Yeah, definitely. Zach, what's been your biggest challenge, you know, with, with this sport and what do you want our listeners to know about goalball?

Zach: 19:28

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I like to tell people, it's, it's one of the most exciting sports that most people don't know about, you know, when you hear goalball or anything like that, you don't really know what that is. You know, what track for the, for the blind and all that stuff is, it's stuff adapted from, you know, regular, like, uh, people with abilities, t heir sports, but at the same time, it's like when you, when you talk about, g oalball not very many people know it. So it's, it's a very, very exciting sport. U m, and most people don't know about it. So when, when you do watch it and get a chance to check it out, just know that it's so high, intense training is been, it's been difficult this through COVID. U m, I am beat up, u h, to say the least, but I a m ready to go. And so excited for Tokyo a nd to represent team USA.

Shelly: 20:25

Yay. We're going to be cheering you on. So I want to bring in Nina, who is the director of marketing and communications for the power of power lifting team? How have you supported the team and what are you going to be doing during the games to promote the team? Because I believe you said earlier, before we started that you're not going to be able to go to Tokyo.

Nina: 20:42

Sure. So what are the ways we support USA para powerlifting by giving athletes, coaches and the staff of voice through routine communication, some of the most powerful and compelling stories from our own athletes, the stories of how they got involved in USAPP as well as their journey to competitions in the international stage. So we believe that through consistent communication and identifying opportunities that help position the sport in the media and outside of our organization, we can actively help increase awareness of the sport and engagement among the sports supporters. As far as Tokyo, we look forward to shining a light on the team before, during, and after the games, sharing information on our social media platforms, our website, and throughout the community. So the readers and viewers feel like they're taking the journey with our athletes.

Shelly: 21:33

Let me ask you one thing that just popped into my head. Do the athletes on any of these teams communicate with their families while they're out in Tokyo or do they really not? Are they not encouraged? I mean, how does that.

Mary: 21:49

Zach, you want me to go first or are you going to go first style? I'll do whatever you choose.

Zach: 21:53

No, it's definitely, this is my first Paralympic, so I have no ideas.

Mary: 21:57

Okay. So every sport works differently. I know as the high performance manager for para, power lifting, I know that our athletes have a tremendous amount of need to communicate with their family. It is a fine line between support and what's going on at home and stress. And so the job of the mental performance coach/ sports psychologist is to ensure the athlete focuses on performance. I would say in relation to Zach as a new athlete, from a coaching perspective, in a high-performance perspective, his wife is going to provide him a huge amount of emotional support. And it's going to be hard for him to be away from her, from her for so long yet he's going to need to stay dialed in on, on being part of this team. And so I think that is a real challenge for our athletes and our coaches, honestly. So that's just part of sports.

Shelly: 22:48

Yeah. How long are you guys gone in all? I think Zach, you said you're leaving like the 17th?

Zach: 22:55

I think with Tokyo, it's going to be, you know, how far we make an competition. Um, right now it sounds like as soon as your competition is over, or you are eliminated from competition, that you have a certain timeline where you have to get out of the country.

Mary: 23:12

48 hours.

Zach: 23:14

Yep, I wasn't sure if those were just rumors or that's w hat I was pretty sure it was 48 hours. So yeah,

Mary: 23:20

You're only allowed on grounds five to seven days out from the start of your competition and within 48 hours after you have to leave. Zach, are you guys go ing t o train on ground prior to actually going into the Olympic village?

Zach: 23:34

Yeah, I think we're still kind of trying to figure out those details. Exactly. Um, we actually have a training camp coming up, so I think we're about to get kind of briefed on all the information that. I know for a fact, our gold medal matches the day before closing ceremony. So I'm really hoping we can make it to that, you know, those metal rounds and be there for closing ceremonies. But just gonna go work hard and go try to get through it all.

Mary: 24:01

For sure. Um, so with Tokyo, the environment is higher, the altitude is higher, so there is an acclimation. And so most teams from around the world would, uh, want to go in any environment such as Tokyo. So there are teams that are, um, going to train in Hawaii, which has a similar elevation. Of course, this Colorado Springs, which has a higher elevation, which is somewhat similar in our country. So I think all teams are trying to figure all of this out, you know, so it just depends.

Shelly: 24:33

Interesting, fantastic. Well, I think with that, we're going to take a short commercial break and we'll be back with team USA.

AD: 24:40

Abilities in Motion is one of Pennsylvania's premier centers for independent living existing to educate, support, and promote individuals with disabilities. Our programs are focused on providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities to live independent, self-determined lives. Abilities in Motion, advocates for local, state, and national laws that protect the rights of people with disabilities. We are proud to create innovative and sustainable solutions and set trends using multi focused approaches towards shaping national education, employment opportunities, in home supports, and healthcare that affects the lives of individuals with disabilities. For more information about programs and services, Abilities in Motion provides call 6 1 0- 3 7 6- 0 0 1 0, or visit our website at www.abilitiesinmotion.org.

Shelly: 25:28

And welcome back. We are here from Tokyo 2021 Paralympic games, Team USA, yay. Team USA, Woo Hoo!(laughter) That's right. And so I wanted to start with each one of you and maybe Nina you can kick this off. Um, what are your goals for the Tokyo games for your sport?

Nina: 25:48

Well, I mean, from a marketing and communications perspective, just any kind of way we can communicate what's going on. Um, just to increase that awareness and cultivate engagement. I think it's going to be really exciting for many people. This is going to be their first time watching these sports, first times seeing these athletes. So I'm very excited just to see what comes of that and the, the kind of interest that growth from people being able to see this for the first time and just them wanting to get involved.

Shelly: 26:19

I think we had over 4 million, 4.1 or 4.3 million people tune into websites the last time there were games. Is that, is that about right? Nina?

Nina: 26:29

Yeah, that does seem correct.

Shelly: 26:29

So Mary, what are your goals for your team?

Mary: 26:33

Oh, well, first we have to qualify. So that's my primary goal. So once we qualify and we get on ground to execute and execute well and represent our country. Represent Logan university USAPP, which is the United States of America power powerlifting, and our athlete to represent his or her family. It is a great honor to represent the United States of America. I do feel it is the greatest country in the world.

Shelly: 26:59

And you'll be taking 10 athletes

Mary: 27:02

No. Don't I wish! Right now we haven't, we have one that we're looking at qualifying and we're just waiting to hear hopefully in next five days.

Shelly: 27:09

Okay. Zach, what are your goals besides getting gold?

Zach: 27:14

Yeah, right.(laughter) Um, honestly, it's to just make the best of every opportunity that I get, you know, this being my first Paralympics. Whatever opportunity I have just to absolutely run with it and make the team better. You know, our goal is gold, but, you know, I, I love my teammates so much and that I think I would do, uh, take a bullet for, I think, every single one of them. And so just working hard, um, especially through these next couple of months, um, or next month, I guess. Wow. Um,

Shelly: 27:47

Yeah. Yeah, it's coming. It's coming!

Zach: 27:51

Uh, yeah. Uh, that's crazy! Um, so just working hard this next month and really, you know, just pushing for that gold medal. Um, you know, I, I don't think the men have taken gold in quite some time, so I am super pumped.

Shelly: 28:07

Have you and your team and your coaches talked about the fact that this is going to be broadcast on major television stations during normal viewing hours for the first time in history. Have you talked about the impact of that and what it means for your team?

Zach: 28:24

Yeah, definitely. Um, we have, um, I'm not sure exactly, uh, when goalball will be airing, hopefully it's at, at a good decent time, but, you know, we're, we're just so excited for that opportunity to get our sport out there and get people to watch it, you know, bring up questions, I think will be the biggest thing. Like, oh, what is this sport? Like, let's go check this out. And just getting awareness, I think is going to be the biggest thing, because the average, most people don't know what goalball is or have ever seen it before. And every person that I've shown goalball or they've come and watched a tournament or a practice or whatever has absolutely fallen in love with it. Um, and so just really getting it out there and showing what we can do because, well, you know, when I first saw it, it, it looks easy. We, I think a lot of these teams and these international teams and guys from team USA make it look easy, but it is, it is quite difficult. And just showing that and that even though we're blind, we are, we are quite elite athletes. And I think that's, that's the biggest thing. I think with the Paralympics being televised as a whole, just that, even though we have disabilities that, you know, in my opinion, and I think, uh, Paralympic athletes are, we almost have to work just a little harder than some of these, you know, other athletes that are cause we have stuff to overcome. And we also have to, you know, everyone has been through something, you know, whether that's, you know, being grown up, being blind, whether that's, you know, being an amputee, whatever, there's always a story behind it. And I think that's, that's the, that's the most impactful thing about the Paralympics. There's, there's always a story behind the athlete and the stories are always, always inspiring.

Shelly: 30:20

And you're, you're did on because I did skiing in high school and college and I still ski now and you have to work so much harder. I mean, only having one leg. I have to use my core. And so I fully appreciate every parathlete and how much harder they're mentally and physically working to do their best. So Nina, from a marketing perspective, how excited are you about all the broadcast and opening up the world to these games for us?

Nina: 30:50

Very excited! This obviously provides a lot more opportunities for us to be promoting what's going on when people can be watching it and following it. I think it's a real milestone for the Paralympic movement and really just reinforces all the efforts that the athletes, and coaches, and staff for many years been working so hard just to increase that visibility for Paralympic sports. Zach mentioned, it's a wonderful opportunity to just grow awareness of Paralympic sports. It kind of reached that new level of support. So we're very much looking forward to promoting this, to ensure as many people as possible are tuning in, in August.

Shelly: 31:22

It's disappointing that the major broadcast stations don't think that the world is ready for it, but I think we're overdue for being broadcast and celebrated with all these sports. Am I right?

Zach: 31:34

oh yeah, absolutely!

Mary: 31:38

Actually in other countries, Paralympic games, not all other countries, but many, um, are shown just, um, as frequently as the Olympic games.

Shelly: 31:47

Ok, I didn't know that.

Mary: 31:48

So it isn't necessarily always worldwide. U m, I think we have a conundrum here in the U S u m, and, and my understanding from media and I don't mean Logan media. I mean, media as an NBC is that they don't believe society will, would get behind the games if you will. And so to Z ach a nd N ina's point, the world is changing. T he, the coin is flipping. U m, and the fact that, like my loved ones, don't have to get up at two or three in the morning to watch whether it's my sport or any sport, u m, or find this innocuous station that nobody has in their cable package, u m, is really, really great. And, u m, I've always thought it was amazing to have the Christmas special. Don't get me wrong. I' ve a l ways e xtremely appreciative for any media that, u m, t he community at large has en ough j ust para power li fting, but it is really awesome to think that someone can turn on channel four and watch it live, whatever sport. Um, t here are 22 summer sports and not all of them are going to be broadcast. I think th eirs w i ll b e 10, bu t 1 0 is a st art.

Shelly: 32:58

Ten's a great start.

Zach: 32:59

Right!

Shelly: 33:00

Yeah, Because I'd been fighting it for the last four Olympics myself. And to hear that they didn't believe that United States citizens would be interested in watching the sports after watching the Olympics and it was degrading. And I was like, b ut do you realize how hard they're working? And then to see over 4 million people t une in on the web, they're like, oh, we're missing out on this. Yeah. Now we want to jump ship h ere. Now we want to get behind this. So you're right. 10, 10 sports is better than no sports. U m, and I think once they see how many people will tune in, I hope it opens their eyes and other broadcast stations and outlets and platforms realize how huge it really is. So that's my call to action for them. So how can our listeners find out more about your different sports and team USA during the games, Nina, what platforms is para powerlifting on?

Nina: 33:56

So you can find up-to-date information at logan.edu/USAPP, and you can also follow Logan university, social media channels, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,

Mary: 34:08

USO PC is running a friends and family, and they're going to have some live watch parties going on. So if you connect with friends and family, USO, PC, friends, and family on Facebook, we also have it's called disabled powerlifting. We'll have live our app, whatever athlete qualifies, we'll have that should go on there as well, easiest for anyone, if they can't figure anything else out, just tune in to Paralympics.

Shelly: 34:33

Zach, do you know where goalball is on social media platforms or where are you out on social media?

Zach: 34:39

Yeah, so, um, we have USADA. Who's our kind of sponsor, our support for all this, for goalball. They have Instagram, Facebook with us. They have USA men's and the USA women's goalball Facebook page and Instagram as well. There's also just the USA goalball page on Facebook. I'm also on Facebook as well, Instagram and all that stuff. And a lot of us are, you know, just on there, just trying to promote and just show how hard we work, because I think a lot of people think that because people with disabilities that we, we don't train hard, but I can promise you right now that every single Paralympic athlete has been training hard. So, um, just following that and kind of follow it, we post videos. We post updates on all that. And, um, I believe Twitter as well. I believe USADA has Twitter.

Shelly: 35:32

Perfect. Well, thank you to Nina and Zach and Mary for educating us and informing about these phenomenal sports. And there are athletes and thanks for being here. I really appreciate your time, everybody.

Zach: 35:44

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

Nina: 35:47

Nice to meet you.

Mary: 35:49

Thanks everybody! Have a great day! Zach, good luck Big dog. Kill it, man!

Zach: 35:54

Thank you. Good luck to your athletes as well!

Speaker 1: 35:55

And to my listeners. I want to thank you for listening as always. And don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button. So you never miss an opportunity to listen to DisAbility Talks

Music: 36:23

[inaudible]

Outro: 36:27

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of DisAbilityTalks. Want to keep the conversation going? Then visit our website at Abilitiesinmotion.org or connect with us on social media. And remember don't dis my ability.