A photo of Greg Lindberg holding a bat over his shoulder; he is wearing his Braille Bandits jersey which is red and black and a Braille Bandits hat which is red; the photo is from the 2019 National Beep Baseball Association World Series in Tulsa, OK
Greg Lindberg balances his involvement with ACB Next Generation and other passions of his while working full time as a senior copywriter. He works hard to maintain all of his interests because he genuinely enjoys Next Generation, working on his podcast, and playing beep baseball. He has been a member of Next Generation since before it was an affiliate and served as its de facto notetaker and then officially as its secretary until 2022. He created and continues to chair the Publications Committee, where he spearheads the publication of the quarterly NextGen Insight newsletter, blog, podcast, and all of Next Generation’s publications. He has also had a hand in assisting with the Public Relations/eCommunications, Membership, and Website Committees.
Athletics and recreation are big passions of Greg’s, ever since he eagerly listened to Tampa Bay Rays games as a child. As he got older, he learned that blind and low vision people do not have the same opportunities in the athletics space as sighted people. He discovered beep baseball and has been on his local team, the Braille Bandits of Palm Beach County, since 2019. The safe design of the field allows players to run as fast as they can without a guide or cane, which Greg says is completely freeing and it allows him to push himself. He has helped his friends and connections get involved with beep baseball as well so they can also experience this freedom.
Greg’s love of sports, creating content, and broadcasting led him to begin a podcast in 2019 called Eyes Free Sports. He interviews blind and low vision people about their recreational pursuits. He has interviewed all types of people, from professional and Paralympic blind athletes to individuals who exercise at home to increase their fitness. His episodes are diverse, including guests from varying nationalities, genders, members of the LGBTQ community, and an age range from 11 to 70 years old. He is also cognizant of covering various types of sports and skill levels. His podcast reminds people of all abilities that fitness and recreation are possible with creative thinking and drive. The fun project, which he started in 2019, grew into a full-blown podcast which releases biweekly episodes. You can listen to Eyes Free Sports on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Listen Notes, and Podbean.
One of the greatest concepts Greg embodies is his determination to try new things that bring him joy. He did not originally have all of these blind and low vision sports connections. He heard about exciting things blind Paralympians and athletes were doing, and he reached out to them via email to learn about their successes and allow them to tell their stories. This willingness to branch out and connect with others has allowed him to grow his network and create content which gives back to the blind and low vision community. That same determination allowed him to grow ACB Next Generation’s publications into recognizable contributions to the affiliate. Sometimes part of finding one’s passion is trying something new, seeing how it works, and growing it from a fragment into a worthwhile project.