The Eyes Free Sports Podcast: Ep 37 - Hitting the Ice for Blind Hockey with Kevin Shanley

<p>In Episode 37 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Kevin Shanley. One of the “founding fathers” of blind hockey in the United States, Shanley spoke about: </p> <ul><li>Growing up in Boston, MA and why his parents always let him hang out with fully sighted kids</li> <li>Attending Saint Michael's College in Vermont and then Clarkson University in New York</li> <li>Finding his niche in engineering and starting his career with IBM</li> <li>Interning with the Naval Research Lab in its marine meteorology division</li> <li>Going back to school for a master’s degree from UMass Boston and returning to Clarkson University for a Ph.D.</li> <li>Working for Rolls-Royce on the gas turbine engines of aircraft</li> <li>Changing careers and going into higher education to help launch a new mechanical engineering program at the State University of New York (SUNY) in New Paltz, NY</li> <li>Playing beep baseball for the Boston Renegades for one season</li> <li>How he got into playing hockey as an adult with fully sighted peers but then discovering Courage Canada, now known as the Canadian Blind Hockey Association</li> <li>Competing in the first national Canadian blind hockey tournament and how he felt so accepted by the camaraderie of the players</li> <li>How he helped arrange the first-ever blind hockey summit in the U.S.</li> <li>The adaptations and rules of blind hockey</li> <li>The possibility of blind hockey getting into the Paralympics in 2026</li> <li>How several NHL clubs have supported local blind hockey programs</li> <li>His guide dog, Bo, from Freedom Guide Dogs and the tremendous benefits of this partnership</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Learn more about blind hockey in the U.S. at <a href='https://www.usahockey.com/blindhockey'>https://www.usahockey.com/blindhockey</a>. Learn more about blind hockey in Canada at <a href='https://canadianblindhockey.com'>https://canadianblindhockey.com</a>. </p>