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Episodes
Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
Saturday May 27, 2023
Saturday May 27, 2023
In Episode 89 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we catch up with John Kusku, a longtime goalball player who has competed at multiple Paralympic Games for Team USA. During the interview, Kusku spoke about:
- - His family and early years growing up
- What caused his visual impairment
- His education and career as a math teacher
- How he got into goalball and his lengthy career on the goalball court
- Competing in two Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo
- His experience with adaptive skiing and goals in this sport
- Other sports for the blind he has tried and would like to try
- What his life is like as a blind dad and husband
Learn about the Michigan Blind Athletic Association at http://miblindsports.org.
Check out the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) website at http://usaba.org.
Saturday May 13, 2023
Saturday May 13, 2023
In Episode 88 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Blake Steinecke, a visually impaired mountain biker and member of the U.S. blind hockey team from the San Diego, CA area. During the interview, Steinecke spoke about:
- His childhood and education
- The sports he played growing up
- How he became visually impaired as a teenager
- How he got into mountain biking and how he has adapted it to be an accessible sport for the visually impaired
- How he got into blind hockey and what it meant to be named to the U.S. blind hockey team
- His blind hockey career and a recent event competing against the Canadian blind hockey team in Toronto
- His passions for assistive technology and his YouTube Channel
- How he has made photography and videography accessible as a visually impaired individual
- His career and current role with Clusiv
Learn more about the U.S. blind hockey team at https://unitedstatesblindhockeyteam.com/.
Check out his YouTube Channel, Adapting Sight, at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy7pr6FKOhahCERy_EIZ0Sw.
Check out a video about his mountain biking experience and an endurance race he competed in at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23BfP6cLTW8&t=10s
Learn about Clusiv at https://clusiv.io/.
Saturday Apr 29, 2023
Saturday Apr 29, 2023
In Episode 87 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Lyn Lindbergh, founder of Couch to Active. The company provides virtual fitness programs and has developed a decent following from blind and visually impaired individuals. During the conversation, Lindbergh spoke about:
- Her personal and professional backgrounds
- Why she decided to start Couch to Active and what drew her to helping the blind and visually impaired community
- The programs and services Couch to Active offers
- How she makes her programs accessible to blind and visually impaired audiences
- Examples of client success stories
- Her podcast and other resources she has created
- Her advice on how a blind or visually impaired person can take that first step to become more active
Learn more about Couch to Active at http://couchtoactive.com
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
Sunday Apr 16, 2023
In Episode 86 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Lindsey LaVere, of North Street, MI. A longtime dancer, she has recently gotten into taking adaptive dance classes and even teaching a dance class for individuals with disabilities. During the conversation, LaVere talked about:
- - Where she was born and grew up
- - How she suddenly lost her eyesight as a young adult
- - Her career in dance and what it was like transitioning into an adaptive dance environment
- - How she got into teaching adaptive dance for people with various disabilities
- - Her advice to someone who is blind or visually impaired on how to safely get into dance
- - Her involvement with the American Council of the Blind (ACB)
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
In Episode 85 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Samir Mahir, president of the International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA). During the interview, Mahir spoke about:
- His personal and professional backgrounds
- - How he got interested in sports, specifically tennis
- How he got connected to adaptive sports, specifically blind tennis
- The history of blind tennis around the world
- An overview of the International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) and his role as president of the IBTA
- How blind tennis works and the adaptive equipment
- Where tournaments have been held
- The current state of blind tennis in the United States and some recent developments on its growth
- How people can learn more and get involved in blind tennis
Learn more about the International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) at http://ibtatennis.org. Learn about the United States Blind Tennis Association (USBTA) athttp://playtennis.usta.com/usbta.
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
In Episode 84 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Demetris “D-Mo” Morrow, a longtime beep baseball player and martial arts competitor in judo. During the conversation, Morrow spoke about:
- Where he was born and grew up
- - His eye condition
- How he got into adaptive sports for the blind
- His introduction to beep baseball and his playing career with multiple teams
- His current role on the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) board of directors and his goals for the organization
- How he got into judo and his career highlights in martial arts
- Other adaptive sports he has played and would like to try
Saturday Mar 04, 2023
Saturday Mar 04, 2023
In Episode 83 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Kevin Brown from the Washington, D.C. area. A blind adaptive athlete with multiple athletic achievements to his name, Brown talked about:
- Growing up in a military family
- -His eye condition and a sibling with the same diagnosis
- His education and attending the University of Virginia where he got a taste of Division I athletics
- The sports he played as a youngster with fully sighted peers
- How he got into adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired
- Being named to the U.S. blind hockey team and the U.S. blind soccer team
- His experiences with adaptive skiing
- How he has successfully coached his sons and others across numerous sports in spite of his visual impairment
Learn more about blind hockey in the United States at https://www.usahockey.com/blindhockey.
Learn more about blind soccer in the United States at https://www.usaba.org/clubs-sports/blind-soccer/.
Saturday Feb 18, 2023
Saturday Feb 18, 2023
In Episode 82 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Omar Salem of Field of Vision, a startup company developing an innovative device for blind sports fans. During the conversation, Salem spoke about:
- The professional backgrounds of himself and his fellow co-founders of the startup company
- What inspired the three of them to launch Field of Vision
- An overview of how their technology has been developed
- An overview of how this technology actually works at a sporting event
- A description of the haptic feedback the device they are developing actually provides
- Which types of sports and venues the technology has been tested in and future plans for more sports and venues
- How fans can get access to this technology currently and in the future
- How this technology truly benefits visually impaired sports fans
- Contact info for Field of Vision
Learn more about Field of Vision and the unique technology the team is developing for blind sports fans at http://www.fov.ie/.
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
In Episode 81 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we are joined by Ethan Johnston, a longtime beep baseball player who currently plays for the Gateway Archers out of the St. Louis, MO area. During the conversation, Johnston discussed:
- His early years and childhood living in Ethiopia
- How he became blind
- What schools for the blind in Africa are like
- How he ended up coming to the United States
- His education and career
- How he got into adaptive sports for the blind, specifically beep baseball
- His beep baseball career
- Other adaptive sports for the blind he would like to try
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org. Learn more about the Gateway Archers beep baseball club at https://mindseyeradio.org/programs/mindseye-adaptive-athletics/beepball-program/gateway-archers/.
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
In Episode 80 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we speak with Koni Sims, a longtime advocate for the blind and visually impaired who now serves as a member of the American Council of the Blind’s board of directors. She is also a member of a new committee developed to oversee ACB’s Get Up and Get Moving campaign. During the conversation, Sims spoke about:
- Her personal and professional backgrounds
- Her visual impairment and why it has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for her
- Her involvement in advocacy work with the American Council of the Blind, as well as its local chapters and affiliates
- The genesis behind ACB starting the Get Up and Get Moving campaign
- Why she decided to get involved in this initiative
- The current members of the committee and their backgrounds
- What the campaign has done and future goals
- ACB Community Calls (virtual events held on Zoom) related to this campaign and fitness in general
- The importance of physical fitness and wellness for the blind and visually impaired
- How people can learn more and get involved
Check out the ACB Get Up and Get Moving Facebook Group at https://m.facebook.com/groups/413654223681516/.