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Twenty Thousand Hertz

Sports Without Sight: The sound-driven world of blind athletes

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Design, Music, Music Commentary, Arts

4.94.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2021

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Playing a sport without sight might sound impossible. But it turns out, there are blind athletes all around the world doing exactly that. Instead of using their eyes, these players rely on their ears to hit a pitch, block a throw, and charge across a crowded field. Featuring beep baseball player Ethan Johnston and goalball coach Keith Young. Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced by ⁠Defacto Sound⁠. Subscribe on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see our video series. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mystery.20k.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Support the show and get ad-free episodes at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠20k.org/plus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Dallas on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠, and⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our community on⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reddit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Download the Be My Eyes mobile app for iOS or Android. To learn more about how to get involved with goalball, visit USABA.org To get involved with beep baseball, check out NBBA.org Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp at betterhelp.com/20k. Get your free business banking account at banknovo.com/hertz. Visit zocdoc.com/hertz to download the Zocdoc app and sign up for free Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/blindsports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

One of the best choices I ever made for my health was prioritizing regular checkups,

0:05.7

because when it comes to health, knowledge is power.

0:09.2

Fortunately, ZockDok makes booking a doctor a breeze.

0:12.5

Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to Zocdoch.com slash Hertz to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

0:20.0

That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com slash H-E-R-T-Z.

0:24.3

Zocdoch.com slash Hertz.

0:29.8

You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.

0:35.6

Whether it's a roaring crowd,

0:47.8

a referee's whistle, a referee's whistle, a shouting coach, or a blaring goalhorn.

0:55.0

Sound is a crucial part of basically every major sport out there. But there are some sports where sound does more than just call out a foul or ring in a goal.

1:01.0

In these games, players are totally reliant on sound to know where they are in relation to the ball, to the field, and to each other.

1:09.0

These sports are built around the experience of hearing,

1:11.6

and during a game, players have to be hyper aware of every sound around them.

1:20.6

Set, ready, pitch.

1:23.6

My name is Subalo, Ethan Johnston, and I am a blind athlete.

1:35.3

Ethan was born in Ethiopia, but grew up in Missouri.

1:39.1

As a kid, he loved sports, but his partial blindness made playing them really difficult.

1:45.0

I played soccer and, you know, just typical club soccer back from like fourth grade

1:51.2

all the way to eighth grade.

1:53.1

But obviously that was an adaptive, so it's hard.

1:55.2

The best part about it, I have a lot of brothers and sisters, so we're always on the same

1:59.0

team so they'll say, Ethan ball on the right.

...

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