MEET THE BOARD OF THE
SPORTS AND RECREATION DIVISION

LISAMARIA MARTINEZ, PRESIDENT

Lisamaria Martinez has been part of the Federation family since she was seven. She was introduced to the National Federation of the Blind through the Braille Readers Are Leaders contest (an annual contest hosted by the National Associaition to Promote the Use of Braille, NAPUB). Since then, she has found a fantastic network of blind individuals who have, over time, become close friends, acquaintances and mentors.

As a child, Martinez grew up knowing that she could do whatever she wanted to do in life--including sports. In elementary school, she was often told that she could not join in on a game of kick ball or hand ball. She was often excluded from PE. She quickly learned how to become an advocate for herself in order to participate in the same activities her peers were enjoying. Martinez joined the track team in eight grade and enjoyed 3 years of sprinting and throwing the shot put. After three years, the desire to participate in other extracurricular activities soon led Martinez toward other interests such as singing and dancing.

Since the age of 11, martinez has been involved in judo. Growing up in Southern California, Martinez would often find herself inside a gym on a Sunday afternoon fighting at a local judo tournament. At the age of 17, Martinez's judo career was taken to a higher playing level. She participated at her first international tournament in Madrid, Spain. She brought home a bronze medal from the World Championships for the Blind. Since then, she has participated in two more World Championships, in 2002 and 2007. Martinez brought home a silver medal from the ParaPan American Games in 2007. She also had the great honor to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Trials.

Martinez admits that judo is just one of her many sports related passions. She enjoys rowing, kayaking, rock climbing, goalball, dancing, tandem bike riding, yoga, and much, much more. It is because of her passion for sports, and her desire to see more blind people get up and move, that Martinez helped to establish and organize the Sports and Recreation Division of the National Federation of the Blind. She currently serves as president of the division and enjoys connecting blind people to sports and recreational opportunities that they typically feel unattainable. Martinez often travels the country speaking about her sports experiences to blind youth and parents of blind children .

CHRISTELLA GARCIA, VICE PRESIDENT

As a young girl, Garcia did not ever let her blindness stop her from doing the everyday ordinary play time activities that children do such as running around, climbing trees, swimming and playing tag. Of course, she had accomplices such as her older brother to teach and show her how to skateboard and ride a bike despite being blind.

As Garcia’s confidence grew in herself, both as a young woman and a blind person, she decided to pursue other challenging physical activities. She joined judo and did very well at local tournaments. At some of these tournaments, Garcia’s competitors felt sorry for her because she was blind. It only took a few throws, pins and wins for her competitors to change their minds. Judo wasn’t Garcia’s only sport though. She was active in gymnastics, cheer leading and track and field.

In 2007, Garcia competed at the International Sports Federation World Championships for the Blind in Sao Paulo, Brazil. After four very energetic and fearless fights, Garcia took fifth place at her first-ever international competition--winning the respect of many coaches both internationally and within the U.S. < p/>Mirroring her childhood, Garcia juggles more than one sport as an adult. Not only does she find time to fine tune her judo skills, but she also excels at goalball which is a sport specifically for the blind. She has taken home many trophies and medals from countless local and national tournaments.

Garcia is truly a passionate advocate for blind people and sports. She spends countless hours of her time toward helping other blind athletes connect and learn about sports and recreational activities while vigorously training and preparing in judo for the 2012 Paralympics.

JASON HOLLOWAY, TREASURER

JOE HAMILTON, BOARD MEMBER 1

MAURICE PERET, BOARD MEMBER 2

Maurice Peret currently lives with his wife, Leigh Anne, and nine-year-old son, Luc in Mechanicsville Virginia.  He has been blind for nearly all of his life.  Peret has widely varied employment experiences from delivering newspapers as a child to sales and marketing developer at the Shakespeare Theater at the Folger in Washington, D. C. to working as a counselor for mentally retarded adults and as a factory worker in a number of private industries. 

His ten years in the blindness field has included teaching independent cane travel, Braille instruction, and telephonic newspaper access to blind people of all ages.  In the capacity of Rehabilitation Outreach Coordinator, he taught travel with the long white cane, provided off-site training to blind individuals in the community, handled outside referrals, served as adult counselor for blind teens in a summer youth transition program, mentor instructor at summer camp for blind kids, and Retreats for blind pre-teens. 

Peret is also a consumer advocate, serving as President of the Richmond chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia.  He is also a Deacon of Shalom Baptist Church in Mechanicsville. 

Peret served as NFB Mount Everest Base Camp Communications Manager for the historic 2001 National Federation of the Blind/Allegra Mount. Everest Expedition that featured Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man to scale the highest peek on earth.  As TEAM NFB Captain in 2003, he also participated in the World T.E.A.M. Sports Face of America event, a three-day, 280-mile bike ride from New York City’s Battery Park to the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. to honor the memory of those who died on September 11, 2001.  

More recently, in 2007, along with Lisamaria Martinez, Sports & Recreation Division President of the National Federation of the Blind, and Tai Tomasi, he rollerbladed the first-ever five kilometer March For Independence in Atlanta Georgia with his team, Skating Canes. 

Throughout his lifetime, he has kept fit in such activities as swimming, weight lifting, long distance running, tandem bicycling, ice skating, and rollerblading.  Peret believes that the pursuit of fitness through exercise in either competitive or noncompetitive sports and activities round out a successful and independent life for all blind Americans.  He further asserts that one not necessarily be a star athlete, but sports, recreation, and general fitness are available in abundance to virtually everyone and blindness need not be an obstacle to maintaining a healthy, happy, and productive life. 

ANNEMARIE COOKE, BOARD MEMBER 3

MATT MCCUBBIN, BOARD MEMBER 4