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Episodes
Eyes Free Sports explores sports and recreation activities for blind and visually impaired individuals.
Episodes
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/.
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
In Episode 49 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Ricky and Christy Jones of STRIVE4You, a nonprofit providing a variety of adaptive sports programs for the blind and visually impaired. They discussed:
- Their personal and professional backgrounds
- Their visual impairments
- How Ricky became involved with the Tennessee Association of Blind Athletes, a chapter of the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA
- What it’s like being blind parents and some funny stories
- Their two guide dogs and how they get along in the same household
- What inspired them to launch STRIVE4You
- The programs and services they offer through STRIVE4You
- How adaptive sports have impacted their lives and the lives of others around them
Learn more about STRIVE4You and how to get involved in its many adaptive sports opportunities at http://strive4you.org.
Saturday Oct 09, 2021
Saturday Oct 09, 2021
In Episode 48 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Tom Fisher of the North American Association of Blind Sportsmen (NAABS). Fisher discussed:
- Growing up in the Pacific Northwest
- A diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes at a very young age
- How he went blind and what the process of losing his vision was like for him emotionally
- How he got involved in the North American Association of Blind Sportsmen (NAABS)
- The adaptive outdoor programs and events NAABS offers
- The “Adaptive Pursuits” TV show which has highlighted NAABS and several blind and visually impaired individuals
- Why he says getting into sports and recreation saved his life
Learn more about the North American Association of Blind Sportsmen (NAABS) at http://www.naabs.org. Contact the organization at info@naabs.org.
Saturday Sep 25, 2021
Saturday Sep 25, 2021
In Episode 47 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we highlight the Long Island Bombers beep baseball team from New York and its performance at the 2021 National Beep Baseball Association World Series in Wichita, KS. We caught up with Ted Fass, Alex Barrera, and Edgar Erickson of the Bombers to talk about:
- Their personal and professional backgrounds
- Their visual impairments
- How they got into adaptive sports
- How they got into beep baseball and what they enjoy most about it
- The history of the Long Island Bombers
- The 2021 NBBA World Series
- Why blind and visually impaired individuals should try adaptive sports
Learn more about the Long Island Bombers beep baseball team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LIBombers. Learn more about the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) and teams across the U.S. at www.nbba.org.
Saturday Sep 11, 2021
Saturday Sep 11, 2021
In Episode 46 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we look back on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics which just wrapped up from a blind sports perspective. In the first segment, we are joined by Mason Merren, an analyst for the USA men’s goalball team and son of longtime Paralympic goalball player Tyler Merren. Mason discussed:
- Growing up with visually impaired parents
- How he got into his unique role as a goalball analytics coordinator with the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) after attending Florida Atlantic University
- The outcome of the men’s and women’s goalball competitions at the Tokyo Paralympics
- Some interesting statistics and analysis from the events
- His predictions for goalball moving forward and looking ahead to the 2024 Paralympics in Paris
In the second segment, host Greg Lindberg talked about the results of some Eyes Free Sports guests who competed in this year’s Paralympics (including Lex Gillette and Kyle Coon), the blind football results, some insight on judo, swimming, and the paratriathlon, and some final thoughts on the Games.