[Sportsandrec] accessibility of sports

[Jason Capati]

Hello Shawn.  My name is Jason, and I am 21 with 20/600 vision.  I have recently been involved in adapted sports for the blind.  I am going into my fifth year playing goalball.  I would strongly recommend trying goalball out.  It is a very physical, intense, and fun sport that involves every aspect of any othe rsport (competition, teamwork, strategy, communication, training, etc.).  I can go on and on about goalball, but to address your question I'll stick to just that for now.  Before I started playing goalball, I played basketball for my middle/high school and track-and-field.  Playing basketball was probably the most challenging sports I have been a part of due to its fast pace and very visually dependent aspects.  My teammates and I came to an understanding that they would have to give me bounce-passes when passing it to me.  They also sometimes called my name before passiing it.  My coach made plays for me where I would pretty much start with the ball and create a shot on my own so I would not be in a situation where i have catch the ball or pass it to a teammate.  Getting the right timing to catch rebounds were tough, especially since I was the Center of my team.  In practice, depending on how much vision you have, to practice free-throws, you can have a teammate hit the rim with a cane, so you can audibly locate the rim and find the muscle memory to make free throws naturally.  Basketball got too competitive and there was too much pressure on me to nto make a visual mistake, so I had to stop playing.  
I threw shot put and discus.  There were very minimal adaptions necessary for me to compete.  My coach had to really give descriptive explanations of how to throw the shot or the disk, so that I can understand proper form without seeing it first-hand.  Other than that, I didn't have much other adaptions.  My teammates fetched my shot and disk for me actually to save time and and effort.  I hope i could help.  I lift weights and run all the time, so I can give you pointers and short-cuts on how to lift without relying on your sight.  Thanks.  I hope to hear from you soon.
Best,Jason Capati 

     On Sunday, March 1, 2015 5:25 PM, Shawn Abraham via Sportsandrec <sportsandrec at nfbnet.org> wrote:
   

 Hello all,
I've been considering some different sports that I wanted to do, 
but before that I wanted to find out about the accessibility or 
adaptability of different sports.  Meaning that I'm interested in 
finding out how most blind people do certain sports.  What are 
the adaptations you use for the following sports?
How do blind people usually run track? Is it always with the use 
of a guide? Trail? What about field events: Javelin throwing, 
shot put, discus throwing, high jumps, etc? How would 
crosscountry work?
Are there any adaptations at all needed in official swimming?
What about tennis or lacrosse?
What about team soccer, basketball, or football? I heard that 
there was recently a movie about a blind football player.
Baseball? Gymnastics? Skiing? Judo?
Tell me about your sport! I'm interested in knowing any 
adaptations, modifications, or special techniques you use.
Thanks!

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