I first met Jacob at the 2010 IDNR Hoosier Outdoor Experience. A wonderful 2-day event put on every September at Ft. Harrison St Park. They have all kinds of vendors and activity providers, with stuff like bow fishing, kayaking, geocatching, hiking, skeet shooting, you name it. I was running a temp 9-hole disc golf course there and Jake and several other Scouts came up to my booth early on Sunday morning, wanting to play the course. I started passing out discs and soon got to Jake, coke bottle glasses, white cane and all. I asked him if he was playing and he responded with a ready "yes". So disc in hand, off he went. He had a buddy Scout who would run ahead and "ring the chains" so Jake knew what direction to throw. He would also help him with finding the disc after the shot. Off they went to play the 9 holes! Not only did he play those 9 holes, but ha came back for another round later that afternoon! Needless to say, I was impressed. After his second round we started talking and found that he was a student at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Indianapolis. I talked to him about some courses that I had designed and been built with the help of various Eagle Scout Projects. He mentioned that he needed an Eagle Project and together we hatched a plan to build a disc golf course, specifically designed and modified for play by BVI players at the school. We gained approval to do so from the school Superintendent and Jake took on the fund raising for materials and equipment as well as getting the labor together to build the course, while I started on the design and layout of the course. It is a beautiful property, you can check it out on this site, Eagle Eye DGC. The course opened in summer 2011 with special hi-contrast signs that included tactile information, raised symbols for tees, baskets, trees, flight path, etc. We also applied extra hi-vis yellow paint to the center pole and basket assembly on the Innova DISCatcher targets. We also formed the Blind Disc Golf Association (a not for profit, 501-c-3 pending, Jake is the President, I am its' Director and we have a few other Board Members), to develop BVI adaptive technology to make more independent game play for BVI disc golf players, and to promote and develop BVI disc golf competition. Here we got some absolutely fabulous help and support from Nason Tackett and the good folks at Discbeeper.com! They were working on a disc beeper for "regular" people to help them find their discs. Just what we needed! Through field testing of designs and equipment by ISBVI students on the Eagle Eye course, we have come up with a complete system (patent pending) of beepers for the discs, target beepers for the baskets and beepers for the tee-signs. All controlled by a hand held pendant type devise. The basket beepers even have a special system of tones so that players can tell them apart. We are also working on other navigation aides and equipment. The goal is to start putting BVI modified courses in as many places as possible and we have been contacting blind schools, camps and other organizations across the US to that end. The biggest hurdle right now is money. We need it not only for operational expenses, but to pay for the patents and begin production of the adaptive technology equipment. We also need money for design and installation costs of the courses. To that end we have been pursing various grants and are in the process of opening a "Group Funding" account so that the average person can help out too. And yes, we do have plans to ultimately have National and even World Championship competitions for BVI players! You can check us out at our Facebook Page and soon on our web site bdga.us (under construction).
