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Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
7 days ago
7 days ago
In Episode 136 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Lillian Goodman, a visually impaired skier, paratriathlete, and all-around adaptive athlete. During the interview, Goodman talked about:
- Where she grew up and her visual impairment diagnosis as a child
- Her education and career working in finance
- How she discovered adaptive sports for the blind
- Her experience in skiing and attending Ski for Light
- Her involvement in swimming and other water sports
- How she got into the triathlon and some events she has competed in
- Her guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind
- Her other interests and hobbies outside of sports
Learn more about Ski for Light at http://www.sfl.org.
Check out the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes at http://nwaba.org.
Visit Dare2Tri at http://dare2tri.org.
Learn more about United in Stride at http://unitedinstride.com.
Saturday Mar 08, 2025
Saturday Mar 08, 2025
In Episode 135 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Tanner Gers. The longtime adaptive athlete discussed:
- His early years and family
- How he suddenly lost his eyesight in his early 20s
- His accomplished career playing beep baseball
- His career in track and field and competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London
- His professional work and current role with AccessAbility Officer
- How he has overcome so much adversity in his life through a positive attitude
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
Learn about AccessAbility Officer and ways to get involved in digital accessibility at http://accessabilityofficer.com.
Saturday Feb 22, 2025
Saturday Feb 22, 2025
In Episode 134 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Tyson Gunter from Idaho. The longtime adaptive athlete in track and field discussed:
- His early years growing up in a small farm town
- Attending summer camps at the Idaho School for the Blind
- His education and career in sports nutrition
- How he got into track and field
- Competing in several Paralympic events, including the 2016 Paralympic Games
- His most proudest moments as an athlete
- His mission to help young visually impaired people discover adaptive sports
Follow Tyson Gunter on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tysongunter_ply/ and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtWxIFIvjesOlMPvzJqK9Qw.
Learn more about Black Label Supplements at http://blacklabelsupplements.com/.
Saturday Feb 08, 2025
Saturday Feb 08, 2025
In Episode 133 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Mark Ivy of the Oklahoma Lookouts beep baseball team. During the conversation, Mark discussed:
- His early years growing up in Oklahoma
- His visual impairment which has run in the family
- How he was introduced to beep baseball and other adaptive sports for the blind
- His career playing for the Oklahoma Lookouts of the National Beep Baseball Association and some memorable events in which he has competed
- His role as a sport ambassador for the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA)
- His day job with New View Oklahoma
- How he got into standup comedy and some funny stories about his gigs
- His favorite comedians
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
In Episode 132 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Mindy Cook from Ohio. A silver-winning Paralympic medalist in goalball, Cook talked about:
- Her childhood and visual impairment
- Her education and professional career with the federal government
- How she discovered goalball and her early career competing on the court
- Becoming a member of Team USA and competing in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo
- What it was like representing Team USA and winning a silver medal
- Her experience competing in domestic goalball tournaments
- What she enjoys most about goalball and adaptive sports in general
Learn more about goalball at http://usaba.org. Follow the U.S. national women’s goalball team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USAWomensGoalball/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/usawgoalball/.
Saturday Jan 11, 2025
Saturday Jan 11, 2025
In Episode 131 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Darnell Booker. The founder of the Indy Thunder beep baseball club and a member of the NBBA Hall of Fame, Booker spoke about:
- His early years growing up in Indianapolis
- His visual impairment
- How he graduated from two high schools, including the Indiana School for the Blind
- How he learned about beep baseball and his playing career
- What inspired him to go into coaching beep baseball and why he decided to start the Indy Thunder beep baseball club
- The success of the Thunder over the years, including the team’s five straight World Series championships
- Some success strategies he has used as a coach
- His advice for anyone looking to start a beep baseball team or adaptive sports organization
Learn more about the Indy Thunder and contact Darnell Booker at https://thunderbeepball.org/.
Saturday Dec 21, 2024
Saturday Dec 21, 2024
In Episode 130 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Rich Hunter. The longtime endurance athlete founded United in Stride, a website that helps connect blind and visually impaired runners and walkers with sighted guides. During the conversation, Hunter discussed:
- His childhood and education
- How vision loss impacted his military career
- His career working as a school psychologist
- How he got into adaptive sports for the blind
- Some of his highlights in marathons and other endurance events
- What inspired him to launch United in Stride
- How the United in Stride website works and tips and tricks for users to effectively utilize it
- His take on the runner-guide relationship and tethers
- How to learn more about United in Stride and get involved in the running community
Check out United in Stride at http://unitedinstride.com/ and find out how to register as a member of the community.
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
Saturday Dec 07, 2024
In Episode 129 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Dave Schleppenbach, the founder and CEO of Tactile Engineering. The company has developed a Braille tablet that is transforming how blind and visually impaired individuals consume visual information, including sporting events. During the interview, Schleppenbach talked about:
- His professional background
- How he got connected with the blind and visually impaired community
- What inspired him to launch Tactile Engineering
- An overview of the Cadence Braille tablet and how it works
- How the device was used for the 2024 Indy 500
- Other potential sports-related applications for the device
- Feedback the company has received from blind and visually impaired users
- Future plans and development of the device
Learn more about Tactile Engineering at http://www.tactile-engineering.com.
Saturday Nov 23, 2024
Saturday Nov 23, 2024
In Episode 128 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we have a returning guest, Ricky Castaneda (previously a guest on Episode 77). A member of the U.S. national blind soccer team, Ricky discussed the recent 2024 USA Blind Soccer International Cup. He spoke about:
- His background and various adaptive sports for the blind he has played
- How blind soccer works
- The recent 2024 USA Blind Soccer International Cup held in Chula Vista, CA
- How the U.S. team fared in the tournament against England and Japan
- What the team learned from this experience
- Looking ahead to the 2028 Paralympics in which the U.S. will field a blind soccer team for the first time
- How people can learn more about blind soccer
Learn more about blind soccer at https://www.usaba.org/clubs-sports/blind-soccer/.
Check out the Metro Blaze Blind Athletes of Texas website at https://www.metroblazeblindsoccer333.com/.
Saturday Nov 09, 2024
Saturday Nov 09, 2024
In Episode 127 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature a conversation with guests who are highly active in blind baseball. They are Kiana Glanton, co-captain of the U.S. blind baseball team, along with Ed Plumacher, president of the U.S. Blind Baseball Association (USBBA) and former guest on Episode 104 of Eyes Free Sports. During the conversation, they talked about:
- Their personal backgrounds and low vision journeys
- How they got into blind baseball and how the sport works
- Their initial experience competing in the 2022 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Blind Baseball International Cup in The Netherlands
- Competing in the 2024 WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup in London
- How the U.S. team performed in the tournament
- Connections they made with players from blind baseball teams in other countries
- The current state of blind baseball in the U.S. and future plans to continue to grow the sport
- How to learn more about blind baseball
Learn more about blind baseball at http://blindbaseball.org/.
Contact Ed Plumacher, president of the U.S. Blind Baseball Association, at edplumacher@usbba.us.
Check out one of the live streams from the finals of the 2024 WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgqg4mwrpSw.