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Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
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/.
Saturday Jun 22, 2024
Saturday Jun 22, 2024
In Episode 117 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Wynter Pingel from the Boston, MA area. The beep baseball player, runner, and musician talked about:
- Her childhood and attending both mainstream schools and a blind school
- Her education and career, including a job she had with National Braille Press (NBP)
- How she got introduced to adaptive sports for the blind as an adult
- Her experience playing beep baseball and tournaments she has competed in
- Her experience as an adaptive runner and her goals for future races
- Her background in music and her current career as a gigging musician
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
Check out one of the bands Pingel plays in, Connacht, at https://connachtband.com/.
Saturday Jun 08, 2024
Saturday Jun 08, 2024
In Episode 116 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with longtime goalball player and disability sports leader Murray Elbourn. The native of Australia now operates Amerability Services in Washington State. During the interview, Elbourn talked about:
- His early years growing up in Australia
- His vision loss journey and how he had some vision restored as an adult
- How he was introduced to adaptive sports for the blind
- His career and achievements playing goalball
- What led him to move to the United States, back to Australia, and then back to the U.S.
- How he got into blind tennis and his current role with the U.S. Blind Tennis Association (USBTA)
- His coaching experience and why he thinks sports and recreation are essential for members of the blind community, especially children
- Why he started Amerability Services and how this company combines training in independent living skills with blind sports opportunities
Contact Murray Elbourne at amerabilityservices@gmail.com.
Learn more about the U.S. Blind Tennis Association (USBTA) at https://playtennis.usta.com/usbta.
Saturday May 25, 2024
Saturday May 25, 2024
In Episode 115 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Charles Catherine. A native of France, Catherine has become a highly talented para-triathlete who was recently named as one of the captains of the U.S. men’s blind soccer team. During the conversation, Catherine discussed:
- His childhood growing up in France
- His eye condition
- His education and career, including his current role with the National Organization on Disability (NOD)
- His journey to the United States
- How he got into endurance sports, specifically the triathlon
- How he got into blind soccer and his journey moving up the ranks
- How blind soccer works
- What it means to represent the U.S. as a blind soccer player
- Looking ahead to the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles
- His musical interests and achievements
- Why he recommends all blind and visually impaired individuals find opportunities to pursue in sports and recreation
Learn more about blind soccer at https://www.usaba.org/clubs-sports/blind-soccer/.
Follow Charles Catherine on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/charles.daddio/.
Saturday May 11, 2024
Saturday May 11, 2024
In Episode 114 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Tyler Cashman, a college student who has collected several titles competing in blind golf and has also played beep baseball and other adaptive sports. During the conversation, Cashman discussed:
- Where he was born and grew up
- His visual impairment
- His education and current studies at the University of Richmond
- His athletic career and how he got into playing blind golf through the United States Blind Golf Association (USBGA)
- How blind golf works
- Memorable tournaments and moments in his golf career
- How he got into playing beep baseball and tournaments he has competed in through the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA)
- The fundraising work he and his family have done to help kids with disabilities
Learn more about the U.S. Blind Golf Association at http://blindgolf.org.
Learn more about beep baseball and the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) at http://nbba.org/.
Follow Tyler on Instagram at http://instagram.com/tycashman1114.
Saturday Apr 27, 2024
Saturday Apr 27, 2024
In Episode 113 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Katy Boyd, founder of Twin Cities Blind Sailing (TCBS) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. During the interview, Boyd spoke about:
- Her childhood and visual impairment
- Her education and career history and goals
- How she got introduced to adaptive sports for the blind, specifically blind sailing
- What inspired her to start Twin Cities Blind Sailing (TCBS)
- How blind sailing actually works and how it can be customized to the visually impaired sailor’s abilities and goals
- The programs she offers to both youth and adults
- How blind sailing has positively impacted many people she has met over the years
- Her future plans with Twin Cities Blind Sailing and how she hopes to launch many blind sailing programs around the United States
- How you can learn more about Twin Cities Blind Sailing
Check out http://twincitiesblindsailing.org/ to learn more about the TCBS organization and how to get involved.
Contact Katy Boyd at kboyd@twincitiesblindsailing.org.