Keith Johnson (Paralympic footballer)

Keith Johnson (born July 2, 1980) is an American Paralympic soccer player. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was young, he played a variety of sports and graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1999.

Keith Johnson
Personal information
Nationality United States
Born (1980-07-02) July 2, 1980
Alaska, United States
OccupationSoccer coach
Height1.6764 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight197 lb (89 kg)
Sport
SportSoccer / Cerebral palsy soccer
Now coachingTexas Rush Soccer
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals2004 Summer Paralympics, 2012 Summer Paralympics
Medal record
Paralympic 7-a-side football
BT Paralympic World Cup
2012 Manchester Men's
Updated on 18 June 2016.

A CP7 goalkeeper, Johnson has been a long time fixture on the USPNT, competing at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. Throughout his national team career, Johnson has been awarded eight “Man of the Match” Awards.

Personal

Johnson was born in Alaska on July 2, 1980[1][2][3] and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was very young.[4] As a youngster, he played and participated in a number of sports including American football, baseball, ice skating, cycling and weight training.[4] He attended East Anchorage High School in Anchorage, Alaska, graduating in 1999.[3][4] In 2003, he was working at Alaska Sales and Service, after having only completed one year of college.[4]

Johnson later moved to Houston, Texas[2][5] to help take care of his grandmother.[4] In December 2007, he married Amanda Johnson.[3] As of 2016, Johnson is involved with Texas Rush Soccer, serving as a staff coach.[6]

Outside of soccer, his hobbies include US Civil War reenactment, hiking and camping.[3]

Cerebral palsy football

Johnson is a CP7 goalkeeper.[5][7] Throughout his CP football career, he has been awarded eight “Man of the Match” Awards.[3]

Johnson made his first USPNT after a tryout in Carson City, California in August 2003 with fellow Alaskan soccer player Jason Slemons. The pair were chosen for the team by national team coach Jay Hoffman.[4] In October 2003, Johnson traveled with the team to Buenos Aires, Argentina to play with the USPNT at the Paralympic World Championships.[4] In the lead up to Athens, he attended a national team training camp at the ARCO Olympic Training.[8] He competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.[1][3] He was in goal in the US's opening game 4 - 0 loss to Brazil.[9]

Johnson was a member of the US team that participated in the 2011 CPISRA World Championships.[1][10] In 2012, he was one of three members of the USPNT to be get funding assistance from the Challenged Athlete Foundation.[11] He participated in the 2012 BT Paralympic World Cup, where the United States won a bronze medal.[10][12] He was in goal for the team's bronze medal match game against Ireland, where the US came away with a 2 - 1 victory.[10]

Johnson was a member of the US team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[1][2][13][14] He was one of only two players on the roster with previous Paralympic experience.[1][10] He was one of two members of the whole of the United States Paralympic team that were born in Alaska.[10] The United States was drawn in Group B with Ukraine, Great Britain and Brazil.[15] Their opener was against reigning Paralympic gold medal winners Ukraine.[10] They lost to Great Britain 0 - 4 during group play.[16] In 2012, he was awarded a Golden Glove Award.[3]

Johnson was one of two goalkeepers who participated in a national team training camp in March 2013 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.[17] In April 2014, he was invited to participate in a week long national team training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. The camp was being held in preparation for the 7-a-side Football Ciutat de Barcelona in June of that year.[18] In March 2015, he was part of the 14 man roster that participated in the Povoa de Varzim, Portugal hosted Footie 7 – Povoa 2015 tournament.[6] The competition was a warmup for the World Championships that were held in England in June 2015.[6] He was invited to a national team training camp that took place from April 29 to May 6, 2015 in Carson, California. This camp was in preparation for the 2015 Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships in June of that year in England.[19]

Participating at the Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships, Johnson was in goal for the US's game 3–0 victory against Venezuela[20] and the team's 10–0 loss to England.[21] He sat on the bench in the United States's 2 - 1 win against Scotland.[22] He was part of the 14 man squad that represented the United States at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto. There, the United States played Canada, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil.[23] He played in goal in the United States' 0 - 6 loss to Brazil at the Parapan Games.[24]

Johnson took part in a national team training camp in Chula Vista, California in early March 2016.[5][25] He was part of the USPNT that took part in the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou, Spain.[7] The United States finished 6th after beating Argentina in one placement match 4 - 3 and losing to Ireland 4 - 1. The goals scored in the match against Argentina were the first the USA scored in the tournament, before putting up one more in their match against Ireland.[26][27][28] The tournament featured 7 of the 8 teams participating in Rio. It was the last major preparation event ahead of the Rio Games for all teams participating.[29]

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References
  1. Robbins, Gerard (August 31, 2012). "U.S. Paralympic National Team – Paralympic Games Riverbank Arena; London, England Sept. 1-9, 2012". La Cancha. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  2. "Team USA Media Guide" (PDF). Blaze Sports. United States Olympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. "Keith Johnson". Team USA. US Olympic Committee. 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  4. Smith, Eric (October 12, 2003). "Dreaming of Greek gold, Two Alaskans are on the U.S. Paralympic Soccer Team, playing in the World Championships". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  5. "U.S. PARALYMPIC TEAM HEADS TO CHULA VISTA FOR TRAINING CAMP". U.S. Soccer. U.S. Soccer. March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  6. "KEITH JOHNSON – US PARALYMPIC NATIONAL TEAM". Rush Soccer. September 1, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  7. "United States — Roster" (PDF). IFCPF. IFCPF. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  8. "U.S. PARALYMPIC SOCCER TEAM FINALIZES ROSTER FOR 2004 PARALYMPIC GAMES". US Soccer. June 24, 2004. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  9. Eley, Bob (September 21, 2004). "Former UAF shooter aims for the gold in Paralympics". Juneau Empire – via June 18, 2016.
  10. "U.S. PARALYMPIC NATIONAL TEAM FACES UKRAINE IN 2012 LONDON PARALYMPICS OPENER". U.S. Soccer. August 30, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  11. "2012 CAF Paralympians". Challenged Athlete Foundation. 2012. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  12. "Alex Hendricks Soccer". United States Paralympics. United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  13. Brents, Phillip (July 27, 2012). "Let the Games begin! London calls to Chula Vista Olympic Training Center athletes". The Star-News. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  14. Dunny (August 28, 2012). "Video :: U.S. Paralympic Soccer Team Ready For London Games". The Original Winger. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  15. "U.S. PARALYMPIC NATIONAL TEAM HEAD COACH JAY HOFFMAN SELECTS 12-PLAYER ROSTER FOR 2012 PARALYMPIC GAMES". US Soccer. July 26, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  16. "Seven-a-siders slot four past USA for first Games points". ParalympicsGB. September 5, 2012. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  17. Southern Soccer Scene (March 15, 2013). "Paralympic Soccer Roster". Southern Soccer Scene. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  18. "U.S. Paralympic national team roster". Soccer America Daily. April 22, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  19. Woitalla, Mike (April 27, 2015). "U.S. Paralympic team prepping for world championship". Soccer America Daily. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  20. Morgan, Liam. "Brazil thrash Scotland to begin Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships campaign in style". InsideTheGames. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  21. Reid, Jamie (June 26, 2015). "England booked an intriguing final Cerebral Palsy World Championships fixture against the Republic of Ireland, after a commanding 10-0 victory against USA". The FA. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  22. U.S. Soccer (June 20, 2015). "U.S. Paralympic National Team completes comeback for 2-1 win over Scotland". Soccer Wire. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  23. "USPNT ROSTER FOR THE 2015 PARAPAN AMERICAN GAMES". Soccer Nation. August 6, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  24. Faris, Nick (August 13, 2015). "Brazilians have no peers at 2015 Parapan Am soccer events". National Post. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  25. Halligan, Amy (March 2016). "Camp. US Soccer paralympic National Team" (PDF). US Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  26. "Ireland — USA". IFCPF. IFCPF. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  27. "USA — Argentina". IFCPF. IFCPF. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  28. "Argentina — Ireland". IFCPF. IFCPF. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  29. "Schedule". IFCPF. IFCPF. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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