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Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
Saturday Aug 29, 2020
Saturday Aug 29, 2020
In Episode 19 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature Part 2 of our conversation with Paralympian and fitness guru Tyler Merren. Merren talked about:
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- How he and his wife, Leanne, met through goal ball and what parenting is like when both parents are visually impaired
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- The audio described fitness videos he has created for the USABA Facebook page during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the United We Move challenge to get blind individuals more active through the use of a Fitbit
- What inspired him to start ReVision Training, LLC and his goal to create a one-stop subscription service for sports and recreation training content for the blind and visually impaired through a smartphone app
- Why he started a Facebook group and YouTube channel with accessible content for blind and visually impaired athletes or those wanting to get into fitness
- His work as a personal trainer
- His advice of a four-step process for anyone who is blind or low vision and what they can do to start being more physically active and leading a healthier lifestyle
Visit his Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/492112998046718/.
Check out his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtd0CZcXwymcY2W6oRQX0w.
Saturday Aug 22, 2020
Saturday Aug 22, 2020
In Episode 18 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature Part 1 of our conversation with Paralympic medalist and personal trainer Tyler Merren. In this part of our discussion, Merren spoke about:
- His take on the meaning of a champion, whether it’s in sports or in any other aspect of our lives
- His early years and losing his eyesight as a young teenager
- How his parents first reacted to his vision loss diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
- How he was introduced to goal ball at a blind sports clinic at Western Michigan University and how he quickly became good enough to compete nationally and internationally
- Competing in the Paralympic Games and how it feels to walk into a Paralympic stadium sporting the red, white, and blue of Team USA
- His first Paralympics in Athens, Greece in 2004 and what it was like defeating Team Canada in the men’s goal ball bronze medal match, 5-4
- How the goal ball matches are structured and scheduled in the Paralympics
- How goal ball is played and a brief history of the sport
- The keys to being a successful goal ball player
Catch Part 2 of our interview with Tyler Merren in Episode 19 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast.
Check out his website at www.tylermerren.com.
Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tylermerren.
Saturday Aug 08, 2020
Saturday Aug 08, 2020
In Episode 17 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, host Greg Lindberg is joined by Air Force veteran, author, and yoga enthusiast Marty Klein of Blind Yoga. Klein discussed:
- His pre-blindness childhood and how he was into playing many sports as a boy
- Serving in the U.S. Air Force before having to leave the military due to his visual impairment
- His accomplishments in billiards
- The work he has done in the counseling field spanning 45 years
- How he got interested in yoga
- What inspired him to create the Blind Yoga programs
- His audio-described yoga programs and how they are designed for blind individuals, as well as how they teach a visually impaired person how to advocate for themselves if they are in a yoga class with mainly sighted participants
- The physical and mental benefits of doing yoga for anyone, but especially for people with disabilities or other ongoing challenges
- The books he has written on a variety of blindness topics
- A documentary film he wrote and directed on wounded and disabled military veterans transitioning back into civilian life and the epidemic of veteran suicide
Visit www.blindyoga.net to learn more about and purchase Klein’s Blind Yoga audio yoga programs.
Check out Klein’s six-minute yoga flow with narration at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV2KxhM0Dm8.
Check out the Blind Yoga Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BlindYogaMartyKlein/.
Watch his film, Why Can’t We Serve, with captions and audio description by visiting the following link and using the following password: https://vimeo.com/284206434 and the password is Marty2. Learn more about the film at www.whycantweserve.com.
His memoir, Blindsighted: One Man’s Journey from Sight to Insight, is available on BARD. His books can also be found on Amazon.
Saturday Jul 25, 2020
Saturday Jul 25, 2020
In Episode 16 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we caught up with Lex Gillette, one of the top blind track and field athletes in the world and multiple-time beep baseball champion. Gillette discussed:
- How he suddenly lost his vision at age eight
- Attending mainstream schools and then East Carolina University for college
- His successful beep baseball career playing with the West Coast Dawgs
- How he got into track and field
- What adaptations a blind long jumper uses to succeed in this sport and the relationship with his track and field guide
- What life is like at the Paralympic Games both while competing and in the Olympic Village
- Tandem biking with the Blind Stokers Club
- One blind sport he’d really like to try but never has
- How he has dealt with the Paralympic Games being postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- His new book, FLY: Find Your Own Wings and Soar Above Life’s Challenges
- How he made a connection with Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey
- His unique Air Jordan video series on Twitter in which he has raised awareness about how a blind person handles daily tasks
Check out his website where you can also purchase his book at http://www.lexgillette.com.
Follow him on Facebook at
Saturday Jul 11, 2020
Saturday Jul 11, 2020
In Episode 15 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, world champion blind sailor Lucy Hodges MBE joined us to discuss the exhilarating sport of blind sailing. She talked about:
- Her visual impairment
- Other sports she enjoyed prior to getting into sailing as a teenager
- How her dad got her into sailing
- The adaptations of sailing without sight
- The different vision classifications of blind sailors
- Some of the events she has competed in and the titles she has won in blind sailing
- The nonprofit, Blind Sailing UK, in which she is involved
- Advice for blind and low vision individuals who are interested in getting into sailing
Learn more about Blind Sailing UK at http://gbrblindsailing.co.uk. Follow Blind Sailing UK on Facebook at http://facebook.com/blindsailinguk and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blindsailinggbr.
Follow Lucy Hodges MBE on Facebook at http://facebook.com/LucyHodgesMBE and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lucyloosailing.
To learn more about blind sailing resources around the world, check out the Blind Sailing International website at http://www.blindsailinginternational.com.
Saturday Jun 27, 2020
Saturday Jun 27, 2020
In Episode 14 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Bryce Weiler, an ardent disability advocate, sports commentator, and all-around talented young man. Wiler talked about:
- His visual impairment
- How he was mainstreamed in public schools before enrolling in the Indiana School for the Blind where he graduated from high school in 2010
- His college experience attending the University of Evansville and Western Illinois University
- How he got into sports broadcasting in college doing color commentary for radio broadcasts of University of Evansville athletic events
- How he has worked with various play-by-play announcers and has adapted to their styles to be an effective color commentator
- How he prepares for a game broadcast and how many hours are involved in this process
- How and why he co-founded The Beautiful Lives Project
- Types of unique sporting events his nonprofit has put on for kids and adults with disabilities
- His work to make stadiums and arenas more accessible to fans with disabilities
- His role as the disability consultant for the Baltimore Orioles and how he got the team to wear Braille jerseys during a regular season game in 2018
Learn more about The Beautiful Lives Project at http://www.beautifullives.org. Follow Weiler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bryceweiler.
Check out a sample of his color commentary of a University of Evansville soccer match at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2hlMPoWHnY
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
Saturday Jun 13, 2020
In Episode 13 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Katie Atkinson and Noah Beckman of Ohio Blind Soccer join the conversation to talk about:
- Their backgrounds and how each got involved in blind sports
- Atkinson’s educational and professional background in working with blind individuals
- Beckman’s childhood and sports he played growing up being visually impaired
- Why Atkinson started Ohio Blind Soccer and her role as a coach
- Beckman’s introduction to blind soccer and what he enjoys most about playing this adapted sport
- The rules of blind soccer, a.k.a. five-aside soccer or blind football
- The benefits of playing blind soccer and other sports for blind and visually impaired individuals
Learn more about Ohio Blind Soccer at https://ohioblindsoccer.weebly.com/. Follow Ohio Blind Soccer on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ohioblindsoccer and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blindohio.
Check out some of Katie Atkinson’s blind soccer training videos on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFvZ-GuHU1A2vdzTCy2xkmw?view_as=subscriber
Saturday May 30, 2020
Saturday May 30, 2020
In this episode of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Stephen Guerra of the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) joined the conversation to discuss:
- His visual impairment
- His childhood and early years
- His college years attending and graduating from Hofstra University
- His career working in assistive technology and running his own business
- How he was first introduced to blind sports, including goal ball and beep baseball
- How he got involved in the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA)
- The history of beep baseball and the movers and shakers within the NBBA
- The international reach of beep baseball and specifically how the Austin Blackhawks have led this effort
- What blind baseball is and how this sport differs from beep baseball
- What it would take to get beep baseball into the Paralympic Games
Learn more about the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) at www.nbba.org.
Saturday May 16, 2020
Saturday May 16, 2020
In Episode 11 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, hear Part 2 of our interview with Michelle Jorgensen, a blind MMA and judo competitor who has won 15 medals. Jorgensen discussed:
- What it was like competing in the 2020 IBSA Pan American Championships in judo in Montreal back in January
- Who she faced in the competition and the dramatic three-round match she had with this competitor from Uruguay
- The calm attitude she had before the competition and how it helped her
- The ultimate outcome of the competition
- The unique dynamics of an international competition with so many languages and cultures coming together in one place
- How blind and visually impaired athletes are classified in the Paralympics
- The accepting and welcoming nature of the MMA and judo communities
- Advice for blind and visually impaired individuals on what first step they can take to get involved in MMA or judo
In case you missed it, listen to Episode 10 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast to hear Part 1 of our interview with Michelle Jorgensen. You can follow her on Instagram at @embracedchaos93.
Saturday May 09, 2020
Saturday May 09, 2020
In Episode 10 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature Part 1 of Greg Lindberg’s interview with mixed martial arts competitor Michelle Jorgensen. She discussed:
- Her eye condition
- The challenges of finding sports to play as a visually impaired child
- Her introduction to mixed martial arts (MMA) in 2017 after taking a self-defense class
- How she got into judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai kickboxing
- Unique strategies she uses as a blind MMA competitor
- How she started working with Kathy Hubble, a highly accomplished Canadian National Judo champion and coach
Listen to Episode 11 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast to hear Part 2 of our interview with Michelle Jorgensen. You can follow her on Instagram at @embracedchaos93.