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169
Episodes
Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
Jul 4, 2026
Jul 4, 2026
1hr 16 sec
In Episode 169 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Caitlin Lee, an accomplished marathoner and endurance athlete who works as the Development Officer at the American Council of the Blind (ACB). During the discussion, Lee talked about:
- Where she was born and grew up
- Her visual impairment
- Her education and current role with ACB
- How she got into running
- The adaptations she uses as a visually impaired runner
- Her experience teaming up with a guide for running
- The numerous races she’s run and which have stood out in her mind
- Her recent first-place finish in the para-athlete T13 female division at the 2026 Boston Marathon
- Some of the sports and recreation efforts of ACB
Since this interview, Lee went on to finish second at the Boston Athletic Association 10K in the Para T11-T13 (blind and visually impaired) division!
Contact her via email at clee@acb.org. Follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/brooklynskipping and on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@brooklynskipping.
Learn more about the American Council of the Blind at http://acb.org.
Jun 20, 2026
Jun 20, 2026
39 min
In Episode 168 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Mark Slavin, an adaptive athlete who has competed in beep baseball and blind soccer and also helped launch the North Texas Blind Soccer Association. In the interview, Mark talked about:
- Where he was born and his childhood
- His visual impairment
- His education and wide-ranging professional career
- How he got into adaptive sports
- His introduction to beep baseball
- Competing at the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) World Series
- How he got into blind soccer and helping to start the North Texas Blind Soccer Association
- His experience coaching blind soccer
- His musical talents and role as a content creator
Follow Mark Slavin on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@Mr.BlueSkiesMusic and on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_hearthesunrise.
Jun 6, 2026
Jun 6, 2026
54 min
In Episode 167 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, two guests join the conversation – Shawn Cheshire, a highly accomplished blind athlete and adventure seeker, and Jesse Crandall, a professor and her guide for many adventures. During the conversation, they discussed:
- Their backgrounds and how they met
- How Shawn lost her sight
- How they’ve done many rides together using single bikes and the adaptations of this process
- Biking across the U.S. and from Canada to Mexico
- Their cross-country skiing adventures
- Shawn’s hiking adventures
- Shawn’s nonprofit, Choosing to See
Check out Shawn’s website at https://shawncheshire.org and learn more about her nonprofit, Choosing to See, at http://choosingtosee.org. Follow her Cheshire on Instagram at http://instagram.com/shawn_cheshire.
May 23, 2026
May 23, 2026
40 min
In Episode 166 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with two individuals who are deeply involved in the beep baseball community, David Sanchez (a member of the National Beep Baseball Association board of directors and Boston Renegades) and Jason Frazier (president and CEO of MindsEye Radio). During the conversation, they talked about:
- Their personal backgrounds and connection to the blind and low vision community
- How they got involved in adaptive sports, specifically beep baseball
- The work they’ve done to grow the sport in the U.S.
- How the idea for the recent Puerto Rico beep baseball tournament came to be and highlights from the tournament
- The current status of beep baseball in Puerto Rico
- Looking ahead to the rest of the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) season and World Series
- The idea of a World Beep Baseball Classic
- Their contact info
Contact David Sanchez at dsanchez@nbba.org and Jason Frazier at jfrazier@mindseyeradio.org.
Learn more about MindsEye Radio and their adaptive sports and audio description programs at http://mindseyeradio.org.
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
May 9, 2026
May 9, 2026
49 min
In Episode 165 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Christina Campbell, an accomplished competitor and certified instructor in martial arts. During the discussion, Campbell spoke about:
- Her early years and visual impairment
- How she got into martial arts as a child
- Her achievements in several types of martial arts
- How she got into teaching martial arts and self-defense
- Her work teaching martial arts to visually impaired kids
- Why knowing self-defense is so important for the blind and visually impaired community
- The Sonic Synergy radio show she co-hosts with her partner
Learn more about the Sonic Synergy radio show and podcast at https://www.hkcradio.com/sonicsynergy.
Apr 25, 2026
Apr 25, 2026
1hr 58 sec
In Episode 164 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we sit down with Antoine Craig, a para-track and field athlete and member of the U.S. national blind soccer team. During the interview, Craig talked about:
- Where he was born and grew up
- His visual impairment
- His educational journey and current Ph.D. program
- His professional career working in the mental health field
- How he got into track and field and his achievements
- How he got into blind soccer
- His experience as a member of the U.S. national blind soccer team
- The keys to success in blind soccer
- His work with Blind Soccer Nation
- His contact info and social media pages
Follow Antoine Craig on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/antoinecraig4real/.
Learn more about Blind Soccer Nation at http://blindsoccernation.org.
Apr 11, 2026
Apr 11, 2026
1hr 7 min
In Episode 163 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we catch up with three staff members of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) – Scott Thornhill, Executive Director; Dan Spoone, Director of Operations; and Kolby Garrison, Accessibility Consulting & Compliance Services Coordinator. Along with ACB Advisory Board Member Mike Deaver, they all got to attend Super Bowl LX. During the conversation, they discussed:
- Their personal backgrounds and connections to sports
- How ACB’s partnership with the NFL came to fruition in 2025
- Their experience attending Super Bowl LX in February of 2026
- What it was like using the OneCourt device at the game
- Other opportunities to make live sporting events more accessible, such as live audio description
- Other observations about the game and other events they got to attend leading up to the game
- ACB’s potential future partnerships with other sports leagues and teams
Learn more about the American Council of the Blind (ACB) at http://acb.org.
Learn more about OneCourt and the device it has developed for blind sports fans at http://onecourt.io.
Mar 28, 2026
Mar 28, 2026
1hr 4 min
In Episode 162 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Erich Manser, a highly accomplished adaptive endurance athlete and digital accessibility professional. During the interview, Manser spoke about:
- His early years growing up in Massachusetts
- His education and professional career working in accessibility
- How he discovered adaptive sports, specifically running
- His experience running marathons, including the 2013 Boston Marathon where the bombing occurred
- What it was like getting to run with a virtual AIRA agent
- His experience with triathlons and a few Ironman races
- Returning to the slopes for an adaptive skiing experience through Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports
- How people can connect with him
Contact Erich by email at manserlikedancer@gmail.com.
Check out a recent Q&A he did at https://evengrounds.com/erich-manser-on-the-resilience-and-logistics-of-blind-running/.
Learn more about Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sport at https://www.vermontadaptive.org/.
Mar 14, 2026
Mar 14, 2026
43 min
In Episode 161 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we spotlight Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind (OUB), a nonprofit in Michigan. Our guest is Gwen Botting, executive director of the organization. During the discussion, Botting talked about:
- Being the mother of a blind son, Greg, and his journey
- How she got involved in organizations for the blind and visually impaired
- Her role as executive director of Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind
- The programs OUB offers
- Who is eligible to participate in OUB’s programs
- The sports and recreation opportunities OUB offers
- The importance of children learning independent living skills
- Upcoming camps and events in 2026
- How to learn more about and contact OUB
Learn more about Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind at http://oubmichigan.org/.
Feb 28, 2026
Feb 28, 2026
1hr 9 sec
In Episode 160 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Jacob Kaplan, a member of the U.S. men’s cerebral palsy national soccer team and audio describer for blind and visually impaired sports fans. During the conversation, Kaplan talked about:
- His early years
- His disability and how it has impacted his life
- How he got into playing soccer
- His journey to making the U.S. men’s cerebral palsy national soccer team and his experience competing on this national team
- His exposure to blind soccer
- How he was introduced to audio description and the blind and visually impaired community
- His work to develop an audio description program for U.S. Soccer and what it’s been like describing soccer matches
- How he approaches audio description for sports and the keys to being an effective describer
- His contact info
Check out the video spotlighting Jacob Kaplan at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsvjQjl3b4&t=24s. Feel free to email him at jacobkaplan837@gmail.com.