Beep Baseball for the blind and visually impaired: Where’s the Beep?

The National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA), a national and international organization based in Glenview, IL, has the stated mission of commitment to fostering competition and camaraderie through the game of Beep Baseball for the blind and visually impaired.

And that is precisely what they have been doing since the birth of the organization. NBBA now has 23 affiliated teams across the US and Puerto Rico, Canada, and Taiwan.

According to Richie Flores, president of the association, in 1976, about 12 individuals banded together to form a non-profit group comprised of about seven visually impaired players and five volunteers. “They wanted to have an organizational structure and membership for this reimagined adapted form for baseball for the blind,” he explained.

By 2025, about 507 members were registered, of whom about 60% were visually impaired and the remainder were sighted individuals who helped facilitate the sport in various capacities, such as umpires, scorekeepers, and base judges.

The original participants had been playing before this more formal structure was constructed for a few years in a recreational format with unregulated rules. The NBBA was formed to create bylaws for the non-profit and rules for actual games. In addition, they also set the parameters for an annual sanctioned tournament, ie, the NBBA World Series, he said.

The 2026 NBBA World Series has reached an important milestone in its 50^th year, with play scheduled to take place at the Stuart Sports Complex in Aurora, IL, from August 3 to 8.

The players

Players in the lineup are blind or visually impaired under NBBA eligibility rules, which define visual impairment as visual acuity no greater than 20/70 and/or a visual field no greater than 30 degrees in the best eye with best practical correction. New players must see an ophthalmologist to confirm their vision, but the NBBA vision committee makes the final call on eligibility.

Players currently range in age from 12 to 76 years and play on co-ed teams.

As mentioned previously, the sport also includes sighted individuals who work with the visually impaired players on the same team. For example, the pitcher is sighted, Flores explained. In addition, there are sighted individuals on the defensive side to provide a “signal” to players; they can say a number ranging from 1 to 6 that indicates the direction in which a ball was hit.

Because visual impairment runs a spectrum, all players wear a blindfold to even the playing field, ie, Goalfix Eclipse (Goalfix Sports) and the Phantom Visor (Targe Innovations). These blindfolds are internationally approved for para-Olympic sports for the blind.

Playing the game

Beep Baseball is played largely by adults on a soccer field 200 by 200 feet using a 16-inch, 1-pound softball that contains an internal beeping mechanism.

In contrast to standard baseball and softball with three bases, Beep Baseball has first and third bases; the bases are 4-foot upright foam cylinders that are placed 100 feet from home plate. When a ball is hit, players run to one of the two bases depending on which base’s audio cue is by a volunteer. The bases emit an ongoing continuous buzzing sound that players run toward.

A hit is considered a homerun when a ball travels at least 170 feet in the air from home plate and remains in fair territory.

NBBA also has a youth program in which participants can play kickball and learn the skills needed to eventually progress to the Beep Baseball program.

Flores’s goal is to emphasize that there is life after visual loss. “Beep Baseball is part of that. An adaptive sport is a catalyst to improving self-perception. This improvement can then lead to engagement in many other activities after vision loss. Beep Baseball is an option for patients who want to engage, be physically fit, compete, and be part of a team,” he said.