The 2025 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup has come and gone. The staff at Turnstone is getting caught up on some sleep after hosting a week straight of sitting volleyball matches from morning until late into the night.
NEI was thankful to be a small part of the World Cup, including promoting the event on the NEI Pioneer Podcast, shooting some matches for social media, and even calling the bronze medal matches on their livestream on Saturday.
None of it would have happened without the team at Turnstone, Visit Fort Wayne, the World ParaVolley organization, and the gracious volunteers who put on “one of the smoothest” tournaments, according to Joe Campbell, the President of ParaVolley Pan-America. He was also the Technical Delegate for this tournament.
“They’ve really done a great job, so I’m very happy,” Campbell said.
As far as the results on the court, the United States Women’s team won an epic five-set match over Brazil to claim the gold medal. The U.S. Men had a great showing and finished fourth. Egypt won the gold medal on the men’s side.
Turnstone had a very short time to prepare for this tournament. Campbell was in Fort Wayne in March for a site visit. He had to confirm everything Turnstone put in their bid to host. The Plassman Athletic Center at Turnstone easily met the requirements to be able to host the event, but it was the hospitality of the people here that pushed it across the finish line.
“It just had like a hometown feel to it. The people here were very polite, very generous, and this is what I like for our athletes,” Campbell said.
Campbell briefly worked with Turnstone CEO Mike Mushett when they worked together at the 1989 International Sports for the Disabled World Championships in Las Vegas.
“I had a feeling, just from knowing Mike from back then in the week that we worked together, that he would have a staff that would be willing to step forward and want to do everything that it would take to host one of these events. It’s been easy. I mean, very easy,” Campbell said.
It wasn’t just the World Cup officials singing the praises of the Turnstone staff; it was the coaches and players telling them how well they had done to make this a great tournament.
“We’ve heard from all of those groups of people over and over again, saying this is one of the best sitting model tournaments that they’ve been to. And we are thrilled to hear that,” Stasha Carrasquillo, Turnstone’s Chief Marketing Technology Officer, said.
“We have a lot of pride in our community and our capabilities. So that’s what we were hoping to hear. It’s just nice to see that come to fruition.”
Carrasquillo hopes these connections and relationships that they’ve built throughout this process will help them down the line, including hosting future international events.
“Sports can be a universal connector. That’s exactly what we see coming here with so many cultures coming into a single location, competing in the same sport with the same goal,” Carrasquillo said. “They often deal with the same challenges at home, so you’re having this shared experience, which gives us the opportunity to get to know them pretty quickly.”
Getting just a brief glimpse into the preparation and seeing some of the things that happen behind the scenes makes me appreciate what an asset Turnstone is to Fort Wayne and our region.
“I could talk about everyone in our local organizing committee, mostly here at Turnstone, Visit Fort Wayne, and other partners, about how important it is for all of us to lean on each other. Knowing what’s going on, collaborating, and making sure all of the pieces flow together. Nothing in this experience existed in a silo,” Carrasquillo said.
When people can prioritize relationships, see a bigger vision, and make that collaboration happen, it’s fulfilling to see it all come together.
“I really value relationships in people, and I think Fort Wayne does that really, really well,” Carrasquillo said. “It never gets old for me to see the proof in the pudding.”
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