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Active Summer Fun: 'Blind football enhanced my life'

A new participation campaign created by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) and National Disability Sport Organisations (NDSOs) is encouraging more disabled people to find out and play out over summer. Active Summer Fun -#ActiveSummerFun on social media - is an exciting new campaign that aims to support more disabled people to find ways to be active during the warmer months.

This summer we will be hearing from various people, who lead active lifestyles in all sorts of ways. We hear how they are expecting the next few months to be very busy!

In the build-up to the IBSA Blind Football European Championships 2015,  Bradley Smith talks about the influence the sport has had on his life while studying at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC). RNC is the UK’s leading Further Education College for those aged 16 plus with visual impairments.

Active Summer Fun campaign banner for British Blind Sport. A blind runner with a guide.

Brad's Active Summer Fun:

Hello, my name is Brad and I have been blind since birth. I am approaching the end of my third and final year at RNC and have been involved in blind football throughout my time here.

I first got involved in blind football when I was 16 years old. I wanted to be part of a team sport and started trying to find out as much as I could about blind football, as it was the sport I had always be interested in. Eventually I found my way to Merseyside Blind FC who were my local team and started training with them every Saturday for a few months before I arrived at RNC. Alongside the subjects I am studying at RNC, I am a member of the RNC Sports Academy. Receiving over five hours of football training a week was a dream come true! It has had a big impact on me and it is this that I would like to share in my blog.

For my whole life I wanted to be part of a sports team but, as I was in an extreme minority, it appeared impossible. When I discovered blind football, it was amazing. I could finally participate completely in a sport and be on an equal level with all the other players. During training you learn the skills required to play, like dribbling, ball control, formation and defence tactics.

However, in this sport you learn so much more. Spatial awareness is vital so that you know where you are on the pitch in relation to the other players, the goals, etc. It is also very important to have good communication because no one else on the pitch can see you, except the goalkeeper, and a team can’t function properly together as a unit if no one knows where someone else is.

This helps in other aspects because you can transfer the skills you use in football to real life, off the pitch situations. I was never great in social situations, especially in groups, but having played blind football has improved me hugely and I now have the confidence to do things I had never done before. It has benefited me a lot because I am now much better at going out and meeting new people and saying what I think.

Blind football is also a challenge, both physically and mentally. It is a great way of keeping fit and is also very rewarding when you win. In my first season playing blind football for RNC, I was very disappointed when we came second in the league and lost in the cup competition in the final on penalties. However, I was also encouraged, as our squad had a larger number of new players compared to Worcester who were the champions that year. I used the disappointment as motivation to improve myself and was rewarded a year later.

In the 2013/2014 season I was given more game time, playing in defence for RNC and, through a lot of hard work and team effort, we managed to win the league with a 100% unbeaten record! It was an incredible feeling winning the trophy and getting a winners’ medal, especially as I felt I had put a lot of effort in and contributed well to the team. Unfortunately, I have only been able to play in one match for RNC this year, but now I can focus on getting as fit as possible and back into the game.

My hopes for the future are, in the short term, to get fit and return to playing competitively. Long term, I would like to build on my last season in blind football and improve myself as a player, and hopefully represent England at a future tournament.

For the European Championships this year, I think England can go far. I believe they can not only achieve their highest finish at a European Championship but also that they have a very good chance of becoming champions.

Thank you for reading this. I would like to encourage anyone to volunteer at the tournament in any way they can. It is appreciated by the players and coaches and it is also a great experience to have. Don’t miss the opportunity.

Good luck to England!

British Blind Sport provides visually impaired people with opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity. The IBSA Blind Football European Championships 2015 will be held at thePoint4 at the Royal National College for the Blind from 22-29 August 2015. Find out more here.