The Eyes Free Sports Podcast

In Episode 173 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we learn about blind fencing for the first time. We are joined by Stephanie Valdez who has competed in multiple blind fencing tournaments. During the discussion, Valdez spoke about:

• Where she was born and grew up
• Her visual impairment
• Her education and career achievements and goals
• What it’s like being a visually impaired mom
• How she got into blind fencing
• How blind fencing works and why there are simple adaptations to mainstream fencing
• Her accomplishments competing in a few blind fencing tournaments
• Her current efforts to help grow the sport around the U.S. and where a few blind fencing clubs are located
• Her involvement in the National Federation of the Blind (NFB)
• How people can learn more about blind fencing

Learn more about blind fencing on the USA Blind Fencing website at http://usablindfencing.org. Check out USA Blind Fencing on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585963794247.
Contact communications@usablindfencing.org with questions.

In Episode 172 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature a conversation with two guests – Christine Tinberg, founder and executive director of Bicycling Blind, and Chuck Miller, a board member for the organization who is an Army veteran and longtime adaptive athlete. During the interview, they discussed:

• Where they are from and their personal backgrounds
• Their individual achievements in cycling and other athletic endeavors
• The inspiration behind starting Bicycling Blind, a nonprofit organization connecting sighted captains and blind stokers to ride together on tandem bikes
• The mission of the organization
• How people can get involved and connect to either a captain or stoker in their local area
• The benefits of sports and recreation for the blind and low vision community

Check out Bicycling Blind at http://bicyclingblind.org and create a profile to get started. For questions, contact ride@bicyclingblind.org.

In Episode 171 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Accomplished blind golfer and high school head golf coach Brian Oglesbee. During the conversation, Oglesbee spoke about:

• His early years and eye condition
• Sports he played as a kid
• His education, including two degrees he earned from the University of Georgia
• How he got into golf and discovering blind golf
• The adaptations of golf for the blind and visually impaired
• His achievements competing in tournaments with American Blind Golf and the U.S. Blind Golf Association
• His role serving on the board of directors for the USBGA
• Working as a high school head golf coach and teacher at Upson-Lee High School

Learn more about American Blind Golf (ABG) at http://americanblindgolf.com. Learn more about the U.S. Blind Golf Association (USBGA) at http://usblindgolf.com.

In Episode 170 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we learn all about blind curling. our guest is Murray Rudolph from Canada. The longtime blind curler spoke about

• Where he was born and grew up
• His visual impairment
• His education and career
• How he got into blind curling
• How curling is adapted for blind and visually impaired players
• His achievements in curling
• How popular blind curling is in Canada today
• How people can learn more about blind curling in Canada

Contact the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) at http://ccbnational.net.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.