NWADB

About Us

About NWADB

Northwest Association of Deaf Basketball (NWADB) is a GREAT basketball organization and is proud to represent 8 different states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Northern California, Northern Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. We have an average of 125 basketball players competing in our regional tournament annually and we attract about 100-150 fans each year to our exciting event.

NWADB creates an environment that is fun, educational and competitive. NWADB also helps develop a strong work ethic, leadership skills, goal setting and the values of teamwork. NWADB has helped prepare many sport teams and coaches to fulfill their dreams. This organization was founded in 1954 and is still going STRONG!

President
Justin Anderson

Justin Anderson was born in Provo, Utah and lived in Utah for most of his life; he lived in St. Louis, Missouri for 5 years for his elementary education in the 3rd to 7th grades. He loved the outdoors of the mountains, skiing (both water-skiing and snow-skiing), snowboarding, playing his favorite sport of basketball.  Andrea Simpson-Garff married Justin in the year of 2000; who was raised in Idaho who has the similar interests, a perfect match. Andrea introduced Justin to the NWAAD’s community in the same year of 2000, he has kept coming to the annual tournament since then. They have two sons and one daughter, Hunter, Jackson and Summer who are the highlights of their lives. Justin has served the deaf community since 2002, was the President of Utah Athletic Club of the Deaf for 6 years from 2003-2009.  He was the co-chairperson with his wife, Andrea for the 2003’s 50th Anniversary NWAAD’s Tournament in Salt Lake City and the chairperson for the 2004’s 60th Anniversary USADB Tournament in Orem, Utah. In the year of 2005, He was the vice president of NWADB after the organization of NWAAD was split to NWADB, Northwest Association of Deaf Basketball and NWSAD, Northwest Softball Association of Deaf. Justin became the President in the year of 2009 and is still involved with NWADB, whom he loves to serve.

Vice President
Matt Cerar

Matt Cerar was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and lived in Utah for the most of his life. He attended to Utah State University where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Deaf Education in 2017. He has played for NWADB, representing Utah since 2011. During his free time, he enjoys outdoors including hiking and skiing. He also enjoys attending and playing variety of sports. He is currently a basketball coach and History Teacher at California School for the Deaf in Riverside, California. He is looking forward to serve NWADB as an officer for the first time.  

He is currently resides in Riverside, California with his German Shepherd dog.

Secretary/Treasurer
Ben Daniel

Ben Daniel grew up pursuing two passions: sports and entrepreneurship. He has been involved in sports all his life, mostly baseball and basketball. He was introduced to the Deaf world when he joined the USDB boys’ basketball team as a senior in high school and has never looked back. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in Facility and Property Management. While in college, Ben followed his entrepreneurial spirit and co-founded what is now one of the largest ASL interpreting businesses in Utah, overseeing the financial side. He also works full-time at Communication Services for the Deaf, Inc as their financial analyst.
 
Ben is currently serving as the treasurer for the Utah chapter of RID, and was the finance chair for the ASLTA conference in SLC in 2017. He looks forward to his new role with NWADB.
 
When Ben isn’t playing in basketball or slow-pitch softball leagues, you can find him spending time with his family or training for Spartan races. He and his wife live in Provo, UT with their three children.

Public Relations
Craig Radford

Craig Radford grew up in a small town in Eastern Idaho, where he spent his days feeding cows, moving pipe, working in the potato fields, and shaping a mindset for hard work and personal accountability. He has had to overcome a host of obstacles in life on his way through college at Utah State University receiving his MBA. Craig has chaired two successful 2006 and 2010 NWADB tournaments, also chaired 2011’s Western States Basketball Tournament in SLC, Utah with 8 schools participating. He has volunteered his time for over 10 years with Utah Athletic Club of the Deaf where he was part of helping them to secure funds at over $20,000.00. He has served in various positions such as President, Vice President, and Athletic Director. He has also coached basketball for over 12 years. During his high school years, he played in the International Sport Exchange Olympics in China winning the gold.

Craig joined NWADB at a point when it was struggling financially and working closely with officers to transform it into a financially healthy organization.

Craig lives in Pocatello, Idaho with his wife Jill, his daughters Alexis and Taylor, and his sons Jordan, Mason, and Titan. In his free time, he loves fly-fishing, hiking, waterskiing, and snowmobiling.

Information Director
Brandon Dopf

Brandon Dopf grew up as the only Deaf person in a small farming community in central Idaho. During his free time, he enjoys the outdoors such as waterskiing, kayaking, and motorcycling. He received his Bachelors at Utah State University and Masters at Colorado Technical University. He has played in NWADB representing Utah since 2004 and continues to play while serving as an NWADB officer. He enjoys seeing old friends and meeting new people every year at the tournaments.

Brandon currently resides in the Boise, Idaho area with his wife, Lisa and daughter, Hallie.