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Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
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.
Saturday Oct 26, 2024
Saturday Oct 26, 2024
In Episode 126 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Richie Flores, the current president of the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) who has competed in beep baseball and goalball for many years. During the interview, Flores spoke about:
- His childhood and visual impairment
- His educational journey
- His professional career
- How he got involved in adaptive sports and who introduced him to beep baseball
- Memorable moments throughout his beep baseball career, including a World Series championship
- His work with the NBBA off the field and his current role as president
- His hopes and dreams for the future of the NBBA and beep baseball in general
- His various roles with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), including its sports and recreation division
- His guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind
Learn more about the National Beep Baseball Association at http://nbba.org.
Contact Richie Flores at rflores@nbba.org.
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
In Episode 125 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we are joined by two representatives from OneCourt Technologies. These include Antyush Bollini, the COO and co-founder, as well as Bree Fraser, the program manager of business development. This startup company based in the Seattle, WA area has developed a device for blind and visually impaired sports fans to help them follow the action when attending or viewing sporting events. During the conversation, they discussed:
- Their professional backgrounds and how they got involved in OneCourt
- The inspiration for launching OneCourt and the meaning behind the name of the company
- An overview of the device they have developed for blind sports fans
- The specific sports and sports leagues they have focused on for the device
- How the device can be used at stadiums, in sports bars, or at home
- Feedback they have gotten from visually impaired sports fans
- Whether the device could be used for fans attending Paralympic events, goalball matches, beep baseball games, etc.
- Future plans and other potential applications for the device
- How to learn more about OneCourt and how to sign up to try the device at sporting events around the U.S.
Learn more about OneCourt at http://onecourt.io.
Follow OneCourt on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/onecourt.io/.
Saturday Sep 28, 2024
Saturday Sep 28, 2024
In Episode 124 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Ivan Castro from Orlando, FL. The Army veteran and highly accomplished endurance athlete discussed:
- His early years and education
- What inspired him to enlist in the U.S. Army and his 28-year military career
- How he went blind while serving and how he was able to continue to serve on active duty in spite of his blindness
- His achievements in marathons, hikes, and other endurance adventures he has tackled around the world
- The U.S. presidents and other celebrities he has met throughout his life
- The book he co-authored about his journey
- His message about living life to the fullest
Check out Castro’s book, Fighting Blind, on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Blind-Berets-Extraordinary-Courage/dp/1250076544.
Saturday Sep 14, 2024
Saturday Sep 14, 2024
In Episode 123 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is David Rosenkoetter. The longtime adaptive athlete and fitness guru has also competed in blind chess for many years. During the discussion, Rosenkoetter spoke about:
- Where he is from and his childhood
- His visual impairment
- His educational journey and professional career
- How he got into adaptive sports for the blind and the sports he has competed in
- How he got into blind chess and his journey competing in tournaments
- How chess is adapted for the blind and visually impaired community
- An overview of the United States Blind Chess Association (USBCA) and the current state of blind chess in the U.S. and internationally
- Over-the-board blind chess tournaments and those held virtually
- How fitness has helped him when playing the mental game of chess
Learn more about the United States Blind Chess Association at https://usblindchess.org/.
Check out Rosenkoetter’s website at http://boldlyblind.blog.
His soon-to-be-published book is called Jag.
Saturday Aug 31, 2024
Saturday Aug 31, 2024
In Episode 122 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Drew Garza and Josh Schneider, two of the founders of The Dented Puck Foundation who are both highly active in blind hockey in the U.S. During the conversation, they talked about:
- Their early years
- Their low vision journeys
- How they discovered blind hockey
- Their experiences in blind hockey both on and off the ice
- Why they started The Dented Puck Foundation and its mission
- The current state of blind hockey in the U.S. and looking ahead
- The possibility of getting blind hockey into the Paralympics someday
- How to learn more about blind hockey and their contact info
Learn more about The Dented Puck Foundation and blind hockey at http://thedentedpuck.com/.
Saturday Aug 17, 2024
Saturday Aug 17, 2024
In Episode 121 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Sonya Chapnick from the Los Angeles, CA area. The founder and CEO of Yoga Gently spoke about:
- Her early years and education
- Her unique career prior to losing her vision
- How she got into yoga and her professional certifications
- What inspired her to launch Yoga Gently
- The yoga programs she offers and how she adapts them to blind and visually impaired clients
- How she got into tandem cycling, skiing, and other outdoor activities
- Her advice on the benefits of getting involved in sports and recreation
Learn more about Yoga Gently at http://yogagently.com.
Saturday Aug 03, 2024
Saturday Aug 03, 2024
In Episode 120 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet David Benney. The longtime beep baseball player and advocate for the sport spoke about:
- His early years growing up in Chicago
- His visual impairment and how it has impacted his life
- His education and career
- How he got into playing beep baseball and his lengthy career with multiple teams
- His role as a color commentator and media team member for the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA)
- An overview of the 2024 NBBA season
- Recapping the 2024 NBBA World Series held in the St. Louis, MO area
- Players who stood out to him during the World Series
- His overall observations on how the World Series was put on and looking ahead
Learn more about the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) and the sport of beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
Saturday Jul 20, 2024
Saturday Jul 20, 2024
In Episode 119 of the Eyes Free Sports Podcast, Liz Bottner joins the conversation. A native of Delaware, Bottner has gone on to a successful professional career along with lots of involvement in several adaptive sports. During the podcast, Bottner talked about:
- Being a triplet and her two sisters
- Her eye condition
- Her education and graduate studies
- Her career working for a few major government organizations
- What led her to try adaptive sports for the blind
- Her experience competing in blind hockey with the Hartford Braillers
- Her experience as an adaptive runner and her running guide dog from Guiding Eyes for the Blind
- Her volunteer work
- Her advice for anyone in the blind community who has thought about trying sports and recreational activities
- Some important resources for those interested in adaptive sports programs
Learn more about the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) at http://www.usaba.org.
For more information on blind hockey, check out https://unitedstatesblindhockeyteam.com/.
Contact Liz Bottner at pennyforward@pennyforward.com.
Saturday Jul 06, 2024
Saturday Jul 06, 2024
In Episode 118 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Alvin Suarez from New York City. During the conversation, the longtime adaptive athlete and coach spoke about:
- His early years growing up in New York City
- His visual impairment
- His education attending both mainstream schools and a school for the blind
- His day job and unique side hustle
- His experience playing adaptive sports as a youngster and what drew him back to participating in them well into adulthood
- His journeys in goalball and beep baseball
- His experience as a goalball coach for a women’s team
- His band with other visually impaired musicians and the music they’ve produced
Learn more about beep baseball and the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) at http://nbba.org.
Check out his band, Los Ciegos del Barrio, on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/losciegosdelbarrio.
Suarez is involved in a fundraiser with the New York Association of Blind Athletes on Wednesday, July 17 at Reif’s Bar at 302 East 92nd Street, Manhattan, NY. For more info, check out the NYABA Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/New-York-Goalball-Sport-for-the-Blind-Visually-Impaired-100063486644438/.