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Episodes
Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
In Episode 59 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Dominick Petrillo, a fantasy football writer and expert who happens to be blind. During the conversation, Petrillo discussed:
- - His early years
- - His physical and mental health challenges and how he has managed to overcome this adversity
- - How he follows sports games, info, statistics, etc. as a blind fan, writer, and researcher
- - The sports websites he has written for
- - The technology he uses to make sports information more accessible as a blind individual
- - The most accessible websites for sports information, fantasy sports, and sports gambling
- - His advice for blind individuals who are interested in getting into writing, digital media, fantasy sports, etc.
- - His contact info
Follow Dominick Petrillo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/envisionff.
Check out his perspective on watching the Super Bowl as a blind fan in the following article on The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/3113053/2022/02/09/watching-the-super-bowl-as-a-blind-guy-whats-different-whats-the-same-my-favorite-announcers-and-more/.
Saturday Mar 05, 2022
Saturday Mar 05, 2022
In Episode 58 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Tyson Ready, founder of the Braille Mountain Initiative in western Canada along with Donovan Tildesley, an accomplished Canadian Paralympic swimmer who took a trip with Ready and other blind athletes for an exclusive back-country skiing adventure in January of 2022. Ready and Tildesley spoke about:
- Tildesley’s eye condition and early years competing in sports
- His accomplished Paralympic swimming career with Team Canada and serving as his country’s flag bearer at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing
- The adaptations for blind swimmers
- A Recap of the Braille Mountain Initiative’s back-country skiing trip to Purcell Mountain Lodge this past January
- An overview of the visually impaired skiers and guides
- Highlights of the trip and some funny stories
- The organization’s upcoming trip in April to Sorcerer Lodge
- Contact info and social media handles for both Ready and Tildesley
Learn more about the Braille Mountain Initiative at https://www.braillemountaininitiative.com. Follow the organization on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrailleMountainInitiative/. Contact Tyson Ready and BMI via email at braillemountaininitiative@outlook.com.
Follow Donovan Tildesley on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/theblindguy_/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/donovanspeaks. Check out a video called “The Winter Within” featuring him at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0NT4-6f49k.
Saturday Feb 19, 2022
Saturday Feb 19, 2022
In Episode 57 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Jillian Ricks, a legally blind certified yoga instructor, massage therapist, dance instructor and enthusiast, and wellness advocate from Tennessee. Ricks discussed:
- Her early life and learning of her visual impairment at a young age
- Getting into dance and how she has made it accessible for herself and her students
- Her college education and numerous certifications in health and wellness
- How she got into yoga and the yoga courses she teaches on Zoom benefiting National Braille Press
- The importance of physical activity and movement for people with disabilities
- The services she offers through Jillian’s Healing Arts Center in Tennessee
Learn more about her center and how to get involved in her virtual yoga classes for the blind and visually impaired at http://jillianshealingartscenter.com. Contact Jillian directly at jillianshealingartscenter@gmail.com.
Saturday Feb 05, 2022
Saturday Feb 05, 2022
In Episode 56 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Dan Guard, the founder and program director of the El Paso Mooses Blind Inline Hockey Club based in El Paso, TX. Guard spoke about:
- How he got into providing adaptive sports programs for kids
- What inspired him to start the El Paso Mooses Blind Inline Hockey Club
- How blind inline hockey works
- An overview of the Mooses team and who can join
- His goals with blind inline hockey and the possibility of it becoming a Paralympic sport in the future
- Benefits of adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired
Learn More about the el Paso Mooses Blind Inline Hockey Team
Learn more about the El Paso Mooses Blind Inline Hockey Club at www.blindhockeymooses.com. Follow the team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SonicHockeyMooses/.
Saturday Jan 22, 2022
Saturday Jan 22, 2022
In Episode 55 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Bailey Martin, a freshman at the University of Northern Iowa. Martin talked about:
- Her early years and childhood being fully sighted
- How she became visually impaired practically out of the blue
- Her education and how supportive her teachers and professors have been throughout her schooling years
- Getting back into sports after losing her eyesight and learning other adaptive sports for the blind
- Her experience winning a contest through Orcam to meet other blind athletes and a superstar soccer player
- Her goals with blind soccer and track and field and dreams of competing in the Paralympic Games
Follow Bailey Martin on Instagram at http://instagram.com/bailey_22_martin.
Saturday Jan 08, 2022
Saturday Jan 08, 2022
In Episode 54 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Zach Buhler, a multisport adaptive athlete from Indiana who competed in goalball at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. He talked about:
- His early years and childhood
- How he lost his sight in his pre-teen years
- Being a military spouse and a Paralympic husband
- How he got introduced to goal ball and beep baseball
- His beep baseball accomplishments as a member of the five-time defending World Series champion Indy Thunder in the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA)
- His experience at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and his take on how the USA men’s goalball team performed
- Other adaptive sports for the blind he has tried and some he would like to try
- How playing adaptive sports can completely change one’s perspective for the better
Follow Zach on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/buhlerz5 and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/zachbuhler5.
Saturday Dec 18, 2021
Saturday Dec 18, 2021
In Episode 53 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we are joined by Dr. Andre Watson, a clinical psychologist who is also a highly accomplished blind adaptive athlete. Dr. Watson discussed:
- His early years and childhood
- What caused him to suddenly go blind at a young age
- His education and some rare opportunities he earned to compete in mainstream sports with other students
- His undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh and graduate work to earn a master’s and Ph.D. from Widener University
- How he got into playing goalball and his many achievements in this adaptive sport for the blind
- His introduction to the martial arts of Tang Soo Do, karate, and judo
- Competing in international judo competitions, including the Paralympic Games, and some unique experiences he has had at them
- His experience playing audio darts and a demo of how this game works
Learn more about audio darts and purchase an audio dart board at www.audiodartmaster.com.
Saturday Dec 04, 2021
Saturday Dec 04, 2021
In Episode 52 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we catch up with a former guest, Kyle Coon. A talented paratriathlete, Coon competed in the Paralympic Games over the summer, a world championship event in November, and has taken on a unique job since we last featured him on Episodes 3 and 4 of the podcast. During this conversation, Coon discussed:
- How he was impacted by the delay of the Tokyo Paralympic Games by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The qualifying events he competed in leading up to the Paralympics in 2021
- The relationship with his guide, a world-renowned triathlete
- His adventurous trip to Tokyo and finally arriving in the Paralympic Village
- Recapping he and his guide’s paratriathlon event and their finish in the standings
- His take on the dining hall and food he got to eat in Tokyo
- His experience at the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series in Abu Dhabi
- His role with the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and “The Blind Spot” interviews he has done with elite blind athletes
- What he thinks is necessary to increase the coverage and awareness of athletes with disabilities
Check out his website at www.kylecoon.com. Follow him on Facebook at https://facebook.com/kylecoonspeaks, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/kyle_coon, and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/eyeronkyle.
Learn more about the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) at https://usaba.org.
Saturday Nov 20, 2021
Saturday Nov 20, 2021
In Episode 51 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature a discussion about sports and fitness for the blind and visually impaired on a budget. In collaboration with the Penny Forward podcast, this episode features a roundtable discussion. The co-hosts were Chris Peterson, Liz Bottner, and Greg Lindberg. Panelists included Marana Vradenburg, Riley Schmitz, and Mary Stores. The points of discussion include:
- Their backgrounds and involvement in a variety of adaptive sports and activities for the blind and visually impaired, including beep baseball, goalball, blind hockey, running, and martial arts
- Examples of inexpensive and free options for working out at home
- Advice on going to a gym or fitness center as a blind or visually impaired individual
- Tips and tricks on making sports and fitness more affordable for the blind and visually impaired
- Why advocating for oneself is so critical in terms of successfully staying fit and having equal access to fitness options
- Examples of organizations that provide sports and recreation to the blind and visually impaired
Learn more about Penny Forward and the Penny Forward podcast at www.pennyforward.com.
Saturday Nov 06, 2021
Saturday Nov 06, 2021
In Episode 50 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Trent Ferguson, a 23-year-old totally blind sportscaster and radio commentator in Florida. Ferguson talked about:
- His early years attending public school
- Transitioning to attend the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) in St. Augustine, FL
- His early interest in radio and how this led him to start doing public address announcing at sporting events
- His favorite radio personalities who have inspired him
- His current role with WNZF radio
- How he accesses sports information for both his work and as a fan
- His musical interests and role with the California Toe Jam band
Check out WNZF online at https://www.flaglerbroadcasting.com/wnzf. Catch Ferguson’s sports reports every morning at 25 and 55 after the hour. Listen to the radio show he co-hosts every Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. Eastern.
Learn more about the band he plays in at https://californiatoejam.com/.