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Episodes
Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
Saturday Oct 29, 2022
In Episode 75 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Wilbert Turner of Cleveland, OH. A Hall of Famer in beep baseball and world recordholder as a blind bowler, Turner discussed:
- Where he was born and his childhood
- His visual impairment
- His education and career
- How he got introduced to adaptive sports
- His beep baseball career and induction into the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) Hall of Fame
- His bowling career and the adaptations of blind bowling
- His advice for those interested in getting into adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired
Learn more about beep baseball at http://nbba.org.
Learn more about blind bowling and the American Blind Bowling Association (ABBA) at http://abba1951.com/.
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
Saturday Oct 15, 2022
In Episode 74 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we are joined by Matt Wallace, a blind sports commentator and adaptive athlete from Pennsylvania. During the interview, Wallace spoke about:
- His early years and visual impairment
- His education and how he attended both mainstream and schools for the blind
- His college years and getting into sports media
- His experience as a commentator for fully sighted and blind sports
- His take on the most accessible websites, apps, and audio streaming services for blind sports fans
- The sports he has played as an adaptive athlete and among sighted peers
Saturday Oct 01, 2022
Saturday Oct 01, 2022
In Episode 73 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we speak with Jason Romero of Denver, CO. Romero is an extreme endurance athlete who has competed in numerous races and events that few sighted individuals would even try to tackle. During the conversation, Romero discussed:
- Where he was born and his early years
- His visual impairment
- His education and career
- How he got into adaptive sports, specifically running
- Guides he has had and the keys to a successful runner-and-guide team
- Types of tethers and other unique tools he has used to run with a guide and even independently in some cases
- His run across the United States, a distance of 3,063 miles
- His nonprofit, Inspire Connection, and his books about his life and overcoming adversity to achieve success
- Summing up his overall message to people with disabilities and people in general
- How you can learn more about him and his contact info
Learn more about Jason Romero at http://jasonromero.net.
Contact him via email at jasonromerospeaks@gmail.com.
Saturday Sep 17, 2022
Saturday Sep 17, 2022
In Episode 72 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we catch up with Jacory Wiley from Atlanta, GA. Wiley is a visually impaired author, motivational speaker, and longtime beep baseball player. During the interview, Wiley talked about:
- Where he was born and grew up
- How he suddenly became visually impaired
- - His education and finding his passions in life
- How he got introduced to beep baseball and the teams he has competed on for over a decade
- An incredible run in the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) for his team in 2022
- The benefits of competing in adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired
- What inspired him to write some children’s books about kids with disabilities compeoting in sports and the main messages behind these books
- His career goals in writing and public speaking
Learn more about Jacory Wiley and find his books at http://www.jacorywiley.com.
Contact him via email at jacorydwiley@gmail.com.
Saturday Sep 03, 2022
Saturday Sep 03, 2022
In Episode 71 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we hit the pool to visit with McClain Hermes. A two-time Paralympian in swimming, she is now pursuing a new athletic goal. During the conversation, Hermes discussed:
- Where she was born and her childhood
- Discovering her visual impairment at a very young age
- Her education from elementary through high school and her college career in academics and athletics
- Competing in college athletics as a Division I student-athlete with a disability at a major university
- How she originally got into swimming and some adaptations she has used as a visually impaired swimmer
- Competing at multiple Paralympic Games and how she finished in her competitions
- Her new athletic goal and how she is training for it
- Her guide dog from Freedom Guide Dogs
- How she and her dad have helped the homeless in a very unique way
Follow McClain Hermes on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/McClainHermes and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mcclainhermes88.
Saturday Aug 20, 2022
Saturday Aug 20, 2022
In Episode 70 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Dr. T. Nicole Kirk, an assistant professor of health and physical education in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia who has coached, taught, and researched adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired. During the interview, Dr. Kirk spoke about:
- Her early interest in sports
- Her educational journey through some unique degree programs and areas of study
- How she got interested in working with kids with disabilities
- Camps for the blind where she has taught and specific adaptive sports for the blind she has coached
- Notable findings in her research on adaptive sports and ideas on how to increase more opportunities for sports and recreation with the blind community
- Classes she teaches at the University of Georgia and how adaptive sports play a role in the curriculum
- Future projects she is working on to engage her students, blind and visually impaired students on campus, and blind and visually impaired K-12 students in the community
Check out Dr. Kirk’s bio at https://people.coe.uga.edu/nicole-kirk/.
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
In Episode 69 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Neal McDonald, a.k.a. “Neal Dawg,” joined the conversation. A longtime beep baseball player himself and current advocate and commentator on this adaptive sport, McDonald discussed:
- His personal background and how he suddently went blind
- How he got into beep baseball and his career highlights
- An overview of the major offseason moves around the National Beep Baseball Association league before the 2022 season kicked off
- His initial thoughts going into the 2022 NBBA World Series in Beaumont, TX
- A recap of each round of the World Series and his thoughts on how everything shook out leading up to the championship game
- Recapping the championship game between the Indy Edge and San Antonio Jets
- Looking ahead to the 2023 beep baseball season
- His YouTube Channel and what inspired him to start a show on beep baseball
Learn more about beep baseball and the National Beep Baseball Association at http://nbba.org/.
Check out The Beepball Blues Show on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ_HllNIoY5xLnhMVwVVGbQ.
Saturday Jul 23, 2022
Saturday Jul 23, 2022
In Episode 68 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Krista Giannik, an entrepreneur in the PR and writing space who also happens to be a versatile adaptive athlete. During the interview, Giannik spoke about:
- Where she was born and grew up
- Her visual impairment
- Her education and early career
- Her current small business – Wise Words That Matter, and what inspired her to become her own boss
- How she got into adaptive sports, specifically snow skiing and water skiing
- The adaptations of snow and water skiing for the blind
- How sports have positively impacted her life
- Advice to the blind and visually impaired on the benefits of participating in sports and recreation
- Her contact info
Check out her business website at http://www.wisewordsthatmatter.com.
Explore the programs offered through Third Eye Insight at http://thirdeyeinsight.org.
Learn more about the Leaps of Faith (LOF) Adaptive Skiers program at http://lofadaptiveskiers.org.
Check out Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports at http://vermontadaptive.org.
Saturday Jul 09, 2022
Saturday Jul 09, 2022
In Episode 67 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Jasen Bracy II, a visually impaired football player from California, along with his dad, Jasen Bracy. The father and son discussed:
- Jasen’s childhood and visual impairment
- The long journey of dealing with his diagnosis and ultimately several medical procedures he had to endure as a youngster
- His education and getting into playing sports
- How he has played mainstream baseball and some unique adaptations to make the sport accessible to him
- How he got into playing mainstream football and how his dad has supported him with “live audio description” in his helmet
- His dad’s approach to describing his surroundings while his son is on the field
- The positions he has played on both offense and defense
- Their messages to visually impaired kids and their parents about having a “can-do” attitude when it comes to being successful in sports and life in general
Saturday Jun 25, 2022
Saturday Jun 25, 2022
In Episode 66 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Sensei Devin Fernandez form New York. A visually impaired martial artist who runs a nonprofit providing adaptive sports, Fernandez spoke about:
- Where he was born and grew up
- Sports he played as a kid
- His education and ultimately getting to run his own small business
- A freak accident that happened to him while on the job, temporarily blinding him
- Being diagnosed with a visual impairment and his adjustment to vision loss
- What inspired him to get into martial arts and why he decided to teach these practices to the blind and visually impaired
- The programs and recreational activities Third Eye Insight, his organization, offers
- Why there are so many benefits for people with disabilities to experience sports and recreation, and how the general public benefits from seeing these activities as well
- His guide dog named after a candy brand and how she has benefited his life in so many ways
- How people can learn more about his organization
Learn more about Third Eye Insight at http://thirdeyeinsight.org. Contact Devin via email at senseidevin.thirdeyeinsight@gmail.com or by phone at 631-445-3464.