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Click here to return to News and Events. Blind Football Comes to UCDJune 2010
On Saturday 26th June the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) is holding this country’s very first Blind (B1) Football Tournament in University College Dublin’s Sports Centre, Belfield. This exciting fundraising event will feature 16 teams of five players taking part in a series of 16-minute matches over a period of five hours. Though each team may consist of players with varying degrees of vision, all players (with the exception of the goalkeeper), will be required to wear blindfolds during their games to ensure those with vision have no advantage. Blind football is a variant of 5-a-side football, with all outfield players wearing eye shields regardless of visual impairment. The football itself contains ball bearings, meaning that it can be located by sound rather than by sight. The sport is played on a solid surface, generally indoors, with a football containing metal bearings so that it makes a noise when it moves. Each team consists of five players, four outfield players and a goalkeeper. The outfield players are required to wear eye-patches and blindfolds while the sighted goalkeeper cannot leave their restricted area. People who take part in Blind Football are classified according to their level of sight as B1, B2 or B3. Players in the B2 and B3 classification are vision impaired or partially sighted while those rated B1, as in the case of this tournament, are considered fully blind. David Nason, one of the trainees at NCBI’s Training Centre, is responsible for coming up with the idea of running this Blind Football event. David who is a passionate football fan himself hopes that it will act as a springboard for more Blind Football leagues in the future, a sport that is still very much in its early infancy in Ireland. He comments how “this event is being held to help raise money and awareness for the National Council for the Blind of Ireland. As I am partially sighted myself, this organisation is close to my heart. The NCBI provides fantastic support and services for people who are blind or vision impaired in Ireland and our Training Centre runs a range of courses that help trainees develop a range of skills which aid them in gaining independence in their everyday and working lives”. In 2010, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) trained 6 new coaches to coach blind players through the “Football for All Programme”. This will hopefully help to develop the sport even further by encouraging anyone who is blind and wants to play football to become a member of a team and receive some excellent coaching. The participation cost of this event is €15 per player and all proceeds go directly towards NCBI who offer support and services nationwide to people experiencing difficulties with their eyesight. If you would like to become involved as either a player or a volunteer, please contact JP Corcoran on 01 8821970 or David Nason on 086 3322064. In order to prepare for and promote the B1 (i.e. fully blind) 5-a-side soccer tournament we have, so far;
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