Q: Where did you grow up? A: I grew up in Philadelphia Pa. That is where my passion for sports started. I started playing sports as a young kid; when I was 11, I found the sport of goalball and that became my true passion. It led me to travel all around the country and eventually representing the USA at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in goalball.
Q: How did you find BORP? A: After moving to the Bay Area, I reached out to a former goalball team USA member who told me that goalball practice was happening on Wednesday evenings. Once I found goalball, I found BORP and have been a part of the community ever since.
Q: Do you have a favorite BORP story?
A: I have lots of BORP stories, but my favorite is that I met the woman who is now my wife at BORP goalball practice. We played goalball, ate pizza, and drank beer at Lane Splitters together. That was how we “dated” for a long time. Many of our goalball friends came to our wedding and it was all because of BORP.
Q: What is your favorite non-sport activity? A: I enjoy time with friends and family, and sipping a nice cold beer. My next project is going to be restarting my home brew beer hobby. I spend much of my time with my two little girls, Semone and Zyona. You can usually find us at different parks around Lake Merritt.
Q: Who is one of your sports heroes and why?
A: Draymond Green from the Warriors is my favorite sports player. I really like the passion and the intelligence he plays with on the court. While it’s true that sometimes his emotions get the better of him, I see him growing as a person, and now that he is a father I think he has matured greatly. Mostly I like that he can see and play the game within the game. His basketball intelligence is really quite impressive.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at BORP? A: Right now I’m really looking forward to getting programs started back up again. That is the main thing that I am focused on. So, stay tuned for more information regarding that.
Q: What is the one game moment you could watch over and over again? A: Back in 2014 I was playing goalball at a tournament in Michigan. My team was evenly matched against the other one. Somewhere in the second half, I was feeling good on the court and my shoulder and arm were nice and warmed up. I threw what was described as one of the nastiest curveballs ever to score on a goalball court. I can remember almost exactly how the ball felt as I released it from my hand. And I can still hear how the ball sounded as it went down the court. But, mostly I remember hearing one of the coaches or spectators astounded gasp as the defending player bit hard on the fake and the shot scored. Definitely one of my favorite memories on the court.
