PAUL PONCHILLIA, Ph. D.

Before the hunting accident that took his sight at age 30, Paul Ponchillia was a high school and college athlete. After he discovered the vigorous competitive sport of goalball, he was more determined than ever to stay involved in sports despite his blindness. He is or has been a competitive goalball player, track and field athlete, and a cross-country skier. He took first in the totally blind category in the 1986 Michigan Ski for Light ski race and had numerous first, second and third place finishes in state, national and international tournaments. The vice president of the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes was a USABA nationals star in track and field (discus and shotput) and in the 50-meter event. As a Western Michigan University professor, Ponchillia developed a course called Teaching Sports and Physical Education Activities to Visually Impaired Individuals. He has also developed instructional videos aimed at teaching parents, teachers and coaches how to teach blind students goalball and its strategies, and hundreds of children benefit from a program he initiated in 1988, the annual Sports Education Camp for Visually Impaired Youth.