The Eyes Free Sports Podcast

In Episode 119 of the Eyes Free Sports Podcast, Liz Bottner joins the conversation. A native of Delaware, Bottner has gone on to a successful professional career along with lots of involvement in several adaptive sports. During the podcast, Bottner talked about: Being a triplet and her two sisters Her eye condition Her education and graduate studies Her career working for a few major government or...

In Episode 118 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Alvin Suarez from New York City. During the conversation, the longtime adaptive athlete and coach spoke about: His early years growing up in New York City His visual impairment His education attending both mainstream schools and a school for the blind His day job and unique side hustle His experience playing adaptive sports as a youngster and...

In Episode 117 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Wynter Pingel from the Boston, MA area. The beep baseball player, runner, and musician talked about: Her childhood and attending both mainstream schools and a blind school Her education and career, including a job she had with National Braille Press (NBP) How she got introduced to adaptive sports for the blind as an adult Her experience playi...

In Episode 116 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with longtime goalball player and disability sports leader Murray Elbourn. The native of Australia now operates Amerability Services in Washington State. During the interview, Elbourn talked about: His early years growing up in Australia His vision loss journey and how he had some vision restored as an adult How he was introduced to adaptive...

In Episode 115 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Charles Catherine. A native of France, Catherine has become a highly talented para-triathlete who was recently named as one of the captains of the U.S. men’s blind soccer team. During the conversation, Catherine discussed: His childhood growing up in France His eye condition His education and career, including his current role with the Nation...

In Episode 114 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Tyler Cashman, a college student who has collected several titles competing in blind golf and has also played beep baseball and other adaptive sports. During the conversation, Cashman discussed: Where he was born and grew up His visual impairment His education and current studies at the University of Richmond His athletic career and how he go...

In Episode 113 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Katy Boyd, founder of Twin Cities Blind Sailing (TCBS) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota. During the interview, Boyd spoke about: Her childhood and visual impairment Her education and career history and goals How she got introduced to adaptive sports for the blind, specifically blind sailing What inspired her to start Twin Ci...

In Episode 112 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we discuss audio description for live sporting events and other live events provided by MindsEye, a nonprofit in the St. Louis, MO area. Two members of the organization, Magan Harms (MindsEye arts and culture director) and Liam McCoy (MindsEye quality control specialist), join the discussion. They spoke about: How Magan got involved in the blind comm...

In Episode 111 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Mike Royal, an accomplished adaptive athlete in running, water skiing, and other sports who resides in the Houston, TX area. Royal talked about: Where he was born and grew up in the heartland of America His visual impairment His education, career, and family How he was introduced to sports for the blind His achievements as a runner and...

In Episode 110 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Francesco Magisano, an accomplished endurance athlete and para-triathlete who also serves as the Director of the New York City Metro Region for Achilles International. During the interview, Magisano discussed: Where he was born and grew up His eye condition and vision loss journey How he got connected to Achilles International through a...

In Episode 109 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Calahan Young joins the conversation. The native of Irwin, PA in the Pittsburgh area is the captain of the U.S. men’s national goalball team and a highly successful goalball player. Young spoke about: His childhood and sports he played with sighted peers as a youngster His visual impairment and how his vision has changed over time How he was introduc...

In Episode 108 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Roger Oberholzer, a blind runner and adaptive athlete originally from Switzerland who now resides in Folsom, CA. During the conversation, Oberholzer spoke about: His early years and childhood His visual impairment His education and professional career How he got involved in adaptive sports for the blind His experience running in several of th...

In Episode 107 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we catch up with Pearl Outlaw, a blind adaptive rower and skier, for an open and honest discussion on mental health and athletics. She originally appeared as a guest on Episode 93 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast. During this particular conversation, Outlaw spoke about: When she started to recognize her mental health struggles Why she decided to take...

In Episode 106 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with six members of the Sirens beep baseball team, the first-ever beep ball club made up entirely of female players. The team is based in the St. Louis, MO area but has players from around the U.S. We are joined by players Kim Blumenthal, Corey Turner, Amy Sweigard, and Whitney Marin, along with coaches Kassondra McDaniel and Neal “Dawg” McD...

In Episode 105 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Scott Hudson of Fort Worth, TX joins the conversation. The longtime beep baseball player and runner spoke about: His early years and childhood His visual impairment His education and career in vocational rehabilitation How he got into beep baseball and his successful career What it meant to him to be inducted into the NBBA Hall of Fame His career as...

In Episode 104 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat with Ed Plumacher, a longtime blind athlete and adaptive technology professional who was instrumental in bringing the sport of blind baseball to the United States and helping start the U.S. Blind Baseball Association (USBBA). During the conversation, Plumacher discussed: His early years and visual impairment His college years and various prof...

In Episode 103 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we meet Wendy Fagan, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Envision Blind Sports based in the Pittsburgh, PA area. During the interview, Fagan talked about: Her personal background How she got connected with the disability community, specifically blind and visually impaired individuals What inspired her to start VIP Sports, now known as...

In Episode 102 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Brett Devloo, a.k.a. The Blind Kid (TBK) from Canada. During the conversation, Devloo discussed: Where he was born and grew up Sports he played as a kid and why he fell in love with skateboarding How he suddenly lost a good amount of his eyesight The meaning behind his nickname, The Blind Kid How he got back into skateboarding after goin...

In Episode 101 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Drew Blake, president and co-founder of the nonprofit Guiding Eyes Outdoors, Inc. based in North Carolina. During the interview, Blake talked about: His personal and professional backgrounds What inspired him to help launch Guiding Eyes Outdoors An overview of adaptive outdoor activities the nonprofit offers to blind and visually impair...

In Episode 100 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, host Greg Lindberg celebrates this milestone episode by having the interviewing tables turned on him. Michael Stone, a blind endurance athlete, skier, biathlete, and author who appeared on Episodes 62 and 63 of the podcast, takes the reigns as guest host. During the conversation, Lindberg discussed: - His visual impairment - His childhood, education,...

In Episode 99 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, our guest is Melchion Wee-Ellis. The beep baseball player and adaptive athlete from Long Island, NY spoke about:   Where he was born, grew up, and his unique family heritage His education and sports he played as a youngster His visual impairment and how his vision has changed over time His adjustment to sight loss How he got into adaptive sports for t...

In Episode 98 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we chat about audio darts with two guests - Sam Jasmine of Plymouth, MN and Rich Koppenjan of St. Augustine, FL. The two discussed Where they are from and their eye conditions The history of audio darts in the United States How they got into playing audio darts How audio darts works and the audio dartboard Sam and her team developed Leagues and tourna...

In Episode 97 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we feature a conversation with Allan Wylie, a 17-year-old sportscaster who happens to be blind. You’ll also hear some clips of what Wylie sounds like in the booth. During the interview, Wylie spoke about his early years and education, how he became interested in sports and sports broadcasting, announcers he has looked up to, how he got to call high sc...

In Episode 96 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, Donna Brown, a four-time Paralympian who competed in multiple Paralympic sports, joins the conversation. Brown spoke about: - Where she was born and grew up - Her visual impairment which her two siblings also have - Her experience attending a school for the blind and how this led her to adaptive sports for the blind - Competing in the Paralympic Games...

In Episode 95 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we recap the 47th edition of the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA) World Series held in Norman, OK during the first week of August. We are joined by Neal “Dawg” McDonald, a recent inductee into the NBBA Hall of Fame, along with Demetris “D-Mo” Morrow, an NBBA board member and member of the Gateway Archers beep baseball club. They spoke about:...