Donate Here!

The cost per student, per camp comes to approximately $600 per athlete.

We could not provide this opportunity without the support of our donors and you! \

Please consider making a donation to MOBALE at PayPal.me/MOBALEt (Please copy and paste this into your browser)

Thank you for your continued support!

Check this out!

Fresh off the Olympic Games, Brazil now hosts the Paralympic Games. Athletes from the Northwest are packing up this week to fly south to compete in sports such as wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball -- and goalball. What’s goalball? The three-on-three game is played indoors on a volleyball-sized court and features a roughly three-pound medicine ball that has bells in it. That’s because these athletes are all blind or visually-impaired.

For full article and to listen to a radio show about the sport, click on link:

http://nwnewsnetwork.org/post/sport-blind-thats-coolest-ballgame-youve-never-seen

2016 Special Awards!

We are certainly proud of each athlete and volunteer that attends Sports Education Camp! We have a few distinguished awards each year and MOBALE is proud of our 2016 recipients!

Athlete of the Year, Hailey
Spirit Award, Gavin
Volunteer of the Year, Cheryl
Organization of the Year, Maine Sight and Hearing

Contest!

We have TWO great contests we would like you to participate in!


1. LOGO CONTEST!


Please design a logo for MOBALE or Maine Organization of Blind Athletic Leadership and Education.
            Criteria: Must be one color. Must have full organization name. This                          will be used on letterhead, our social media pages, t-                                shirts and presentations!


2.  Summer Sports Education Camp T-Shirt Contest!
            Criteria: Must be one color. Must include our six major sports                                (Goalball, Swimming, Wrestling, Fencing, Track & Field                            and Rock Climbing). Must have designated space for                                annual sponsor logos.


All submissions must be made no later than September 30th, 2016 and will be voted on at the NE/AER Conference!

2016 Thank You!

Without our athletes, volunteers, sponsors and parents, we could not have had such a successful year!

Thank you to all of the Alfond Youth Center Staff for the support and kindness as we take off on our new adventure!

There are so many to thank and we want you to know we value you!!!


From the depth of our hearts, thank you for making a difference!

All Forms

Note: If forms do not load, please try copy and pasting the link to your web browser.

Athlete:

Application
https://drive.google.com/open?id=19_CTyUiPviV4i3AgxnpFpvENNpB7__kp-2davLpdLyQ 

Waiver
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KW6IfuututKDsflB_13lEicMldeynIVs8rWFaoZ_oqI

Medical
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TJlF3I09Wy-yU2h9s0JtACr1opmwAPPmqvr5RtpQpqE

Code of Conduct
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3jIvLsonznldmZQQXNwZUUtblk





Volunteer:


Summer SEC Application
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rxreJmh0d8Jt_gLLW0pOVcmOgn5Sf80JejV0pHZZ50Q

Winter SEC Application
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3jIvLsonznlVk4wY3dCOXFyZ0U

USABA Form
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3jIvLsonznlekl1Vmg5MG8zUUU






Other:

Camp Needs

Addresses for Camp:

Alfond Youth Center (Events)
126 North St.
Waterville, Me 04901

Camp Tracy (Housing)
302 McGrath Pond Rd.
Oakland, Me 04963

Waterville High School (Track & Field Events)
1 Brooklyn Ave.
Waterville, Me 04901

Please bring the following with you!

Things to be sure to bring with you:

A good attitude

Personal care items including a towel
*Note: Bathing it is expected that female athletes where athletic bathing suits NOT bikini's or other swim wear exposing their mid-drift.

Comfortable clothing including athletic foot wear

*Bedding including blankets, sheets, pillows, and/or sleep bag*

Personal medication, none will be available

No alcohol

There will be no soda provided

Are you interested in volunteering?
Do you have knowledge in specific sports or adaptations?
We'd love to have you!

PARENTS AS VOLUNTEERS
First, thank you for your enthusiasm and support! We are glad you want to be part of enriching our athletes experience during sports education events. Our expectation is that you will participate in a capacity you feel would benefit all athletes and allow your child to fully engage in each activity with the other camp participants and volunteers. This is a setting that allows athletes to meet others and connect with students who have different forms of vision loss.

If you have a specific skill set in a sport, we would love to utilize those skills in any way possible. If you do not wish to volunteer, we still encourage parents to participate in the cameo by dropping off their athlete, touring the facility and attending the competitions and award ceremony.

Please complete the attached document and submit a background check either by email or hard copy as soon as possible. Background checks are needed for overnight staff ONLY.

NOTE: A background check will need to be completed each year.


How to access a background check:
1. If your employer has an up to date background check on file, you can submit that to MOBALE.

2. Go to https://www5.informe.org/online/pcr/ and complete the online check. Cost is $31.00

3. If you are in thru Augusta area, you can go into the Department of Public Safety and complete a form,

ALL VOLUNTEERS MUST HAVE SUBMITTED A BACKGROUND CHECK PRIOR TO CAMP TO MobaleSports@gmail.com

Got P.E.?

One of the barriers we hear most is related to accessing physical education classes for students with visual impairments. Do you have questions? Does the teacher at your local school have an interest in engaging students who are blind or visually impaired more?

Reach out to us! We want to assist in any way we can to encourage full participation in a variety of physical activities, health and wellness training for your student!!

For more information, contact Michelle Mason at valhallatrailhead@gmail.com or Aisha Hixon at aisha.hixon@yahoo.com.

Oh No!! No Snow?!

Who would have thought that we would have brown grass showing in February with predictions of temperature above freezing for the next few days?
It's crazy!

And unfortunately, this nice spring weather in February/March has sabotaged our plans for the scheduled MOBALE Winter Sports Education Camp this week.   We were ready; our fundraising committee did a great job of making sure we had what we needed.  We gave Mother Nature as long as we could to turn it around and snow on us, but it just didn't happen.  Without snow, we cannot do our instruction in Nordic skiing, sledding, tubing or snowshoeing; and without consistent freezing temperatures, we do not have ice for skating.  We are very disappointed that we cannot do these activities this year.

But don't just lay in the couch waiting for summer sports education camp time.  Keep moving and learning!  Visit the website (http://mobalesports.blogspot.com) for some ideas and suggestions of activities you can do to keep yourself up and about until we see you again.

We have a lot of great things planned for summer sports education camp this June -- including some new surprises!  

Hope to see you this summer!

Thanks for your continued interest!! 

MOBALE Board of Directors