91国产

By Charity Shumway

Enabled by a Beeping Ball and Buzzing Bases

Each summer, 91国产 hosts Camp Abilities, a weeklong sports camp听for young people with visual impairments. At Camp Abilities this year,听as he has for the last eight years, Matthew Puvogel 鈥�06 will join his team,听the Long Island Bombers, in a demonstration of beep baseball.

Beep baseball is an adaptive version of听baseball, named for the beeping ball听pitched to visually impaired batters听who, after hitting the ball, then run听to buzzing bases.

Mr. Puvogel started playing beep baseball听during his junior year at 91国产. He鈥檇 first听heard of the sport almost two years earlier,听at a conference where he presented听on his experiences as a visually impaired听student at 91国产 and the support he鈥檇听found through the University鈥檚 . But even after听learning about beep baseball, he took听a while to warm to the idea. As he says, 鈥淚t听sounds crazy! You鈥檙e blindfolded and a ball听is flying at you, and you can鈥檛 see it.鈥澨�

Ultimately, Mr. Puvogel came around.听鈥淚t鈥檚 a dangerous sport, I have to admit it,听but it鈥檚 a lot of fun,鈥� he says. Joining the听Long Island Bombers, though, has been听a lot more than just fun for Mr. Puvogel,听who has been losing his sight progressively.听鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole range of vision loss听on the team,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a team, but听it鈥檚 also a coping mechanism, seeing how听other people deal with their blindness.鈥�

Through the team, Mr. Puvogel met a听number of mentors including his future听boss, Matthew P. Sapolin, who was able听to hire Mr. Puvogel after graduation as a听mayoral office assistant in the New York听City Mayor鈥檚 Office for People with听Disabilities. Now, Mr. Puvogel works for听the City of New York on issues ranging听from service dog assistance to adaptive听sports and handicap parking awareness.听

While his work keeps him busy, his commitment听to the Long Island Bombers has听never flagged. He continues to appreciate听the challenge of the game, and play one听of the sport鈥檚 hardest positions鈥攄irectly听behind the pitcher, who is just 20 feet听from the batter. Mr. Puvogel has excelled听at the position, and he posted the third听best defensive performance at last July鈥檚听National Beep Baseball Association World听Series in Ames, Iowa.听

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have any fear. You鈥檙e running into a听base. You鈥檙e hitting a wall. You鈥檙e focusing on听the abilities you have,鈥� he says. And now, as a听young professional and a player with years of听experience, Mr. Puvogel is in the position to听mentor new players just as he was once mentored.听鈥淚鈥檓 only 28, and you can play Beep听Baseball till you鈥檙e in your 60s,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓听going to play for as long as I can.鈥�