Take advantage of a donor match for Giving Tuesday 2025! Please donate today!

Quincy, Lizzy (with her dog), Dave, Sam, Bill, Carol, Caroline, Sharon, Marcos, Tyler, Maitreya, Brian, Mary, Divya, Rachel, and Kevin standing and smiling, ready to leave the Big Meadows campground for the hike in Shenandoah. — Sixteen participants in our August camping trip pose before leaving the Big Meadows campground for a hike in Shenandoah National Park.

Thank you for being part of the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes community and for all the ways you’ve supported inclusion, health, and connection this year! We have a unique opportunity to amplify our impact. A generous donor has pledged $1,000 in matching funds for our current campaign. This means that every dollar you contribute will be doubled.

These funds are vital for sustaining and expanding MWABA’s programs, from purchasing adaptive sports equipment to organizing events. Donate here to support us!

MWABA grew and thrived in 2025. Blind and low-vision adults and youth in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia challenged themselves and built community by playing goalball and beep kickball, going on tandem bike rides, hiking, camping, kayaking, and practicing yoga. We also deepened our partnerships, which expanded our programming and helped us educate the broader community about blind sports!

Coaches and youth participants pose with goalballs and in their pads at a youth goalball practice in May. From left to right are Coach Maureen, Coach Amanda, JP, Coach Kurt, Rahiem, Coach Lori, Eli, Calvin, Coach Hailey, William, Layla, Luis, referee Kristen, Cecily, and Coach Claire. — Coaches and youth participants pose with goalballs at a youth goalball practice in May.

Here are some highlights:

The men’s goalball team won silver at Nationals! We expanded our youth programming by hosting a goalball series culminating in a youth goalball tournament, and a White Cane Day family goalball event. We did goalball and beep kickball demonstrations at Sidwell Friends School and Tyndale Christian School.

We went on our third annual tandem bike camping trip (check out this article from WAMU: Photographer’s Notebook: Biking and camping with blind athletes), and we held our first car camping and hiking trip in Shenandoah National Park! The Foreseeable Future Foundation sponsored our bike maintenance series and bike camping trip.

We joined Birdability and the DC Bird Alliance for the first annual blind bird-a-thon (check out the article in the Washington Post: Blind birders listen, search for birds at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton). Mason Neck State Park hosted us for a sensory walk, and April Thompson led an edible plants and mushroom walk in Rock Creek Park. We also hiked in Great Falls, Roosevelt Island, Catoctin State Park with Achilles International, and Rock Creek Park.

Shira and Kenia ride a tandem on the Capital Crescent Trail during one of our weekly Friday night rides.

We expanded our weekly tandem rides to now be both Thursday and Friday nights. Over 80 cyclists joined us for 72 rides, averaging four tandems per ride. We spoke at the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit and Bikepacking Roots’ Northeast Bikepacking Summit. Nine tandem pairs did the Great Pumpkin and Cider Rides! DC Bike Ride gave us free registrations, and seven tandem pairs enjoyed 20 miles of car-free streets and starting at the front of the ride! DC Bike Party featured us in their September ride and helped us raise money for new helmets and lights.

Donate here to help us continue to grow in 2026! If you have any questions or want to know more about how your donation will be used, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at mwaba.inc@gmail.com.

Thank you for believing in MWABA’s mission and helping make blind and low-vision sports thrive across the Washington region!

Seventeen participants pose with tandem bikes at the Bethesda locker before the group sets off for Lake Fairfax on our bike camping trip in May.