LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) – The following is a news release from Alström Angels:
More than 100 West Texans are getting blindfolded and stepping up to bat. On Saturday, July 27, 2019 Alström Angels will host Lubbock’s only beeping baseball tournament for children and adults who are blind, visually impaired, and those that are sighted; everyone plays blindfolded.
Beep Baseball was started in 1964 by engineers at the Mountain Bell Telephone Company. The game was designed to allow individuals with visual disabilities the chance to play one of America’s greatest sports: baseball. In Beep Baseball, both the balls and bases are modified to emit an audible beep, which allow blindfolded players to fully engage in the game. All players, regardless of visual ability or disability, must wear blindfolds to even the playing field.
The community event is brought to Lubbock by Alström Angels, a Lubbock-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children diagnosed with Alström Syndrome. The charity focuses on raising funds for medical research and increasing awareness of the rare disease. Alström Syndrome is a genetic disease that affects children with complete blindness, deafness, type 2 diabetes, kidney and liver failure, congestive heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
“Because childhood blindness is such a big part of Alström Syndrome, the BEEPball Tournament is a great way for us to raise awareness for all blind and vision impaired children and adults,” said Cassie Johnston, co-founder and executive director of Alström Angels. “I can’t think of a better way to raise awareness for a disability than to let someone experience it.”
“We thought this tournament would be an excellent team building activity for our staff & colleagues to do together,” said a representative from Carpet Tech, who has a BEEPball team playing in the tournament. “We have had a couple of practices and already realized the challenges of being blindfolded. This is going to be a fun event and everyone should come support the cause and cheer on the teams!”
Teams playing in the 5th Annual BEEPball Tournament range from occupational and physical therapists, families, existing baseball teams, civic organizations, church groups and local businesses.
The 5th Annual Alström Angels BEEPball Tournament will be held July 27th on the Green Quad at the Lubbock Youth Sports Complex located at FM 1585 and Milwaukee Ave and is free for everyone to attend. Opening ceremonies are at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, July 27, and games are played from 9:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. There is no charge for spectators to attend the tournament.
Bracket updates can be found at http://www.lubbockbeepball.org/tournament-brackets.html. For more information about how the game of Beep Baseball is played visit: lubbockbeepball.org.
About Alström Angels
Alström Angels is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to raising funds for Alström Syndrome research, improving family support for those affected, and increasing awareness of the rare disease among the general public and medical communities.
(News release from Alström Angels)