With a passion for football, the pupils at the Nguyen Dinh Chieu school for children with disabilities (Lac Trung, Hanoi) have achieved that miracle.
The atmosphere at the matches is lively and dramatic… no less than top-level matches in domestic and international tournaments.
Watching the ball with… their ears
We had heard a lot about it, but seeing it with our own eyes, we could not help being amazed and admiring as we watched the children play blindfolded football.
Played on the school field, the two teams played with great enthusiasm. Along with the bustling movement of the “little superstars” came the jingling sound of the special ball (this is a specially designed ball with bells inside to make a sound so the players can locate it – reporter).
Each team’s goalkeeper is a pupil with poor eyesight who can still see dimly. Whenever the ball is kicked out, the goalkeeper calls out the name of the player who is to receive it to get their attention. When contesting the ball, the other players keep shouting the “call” – the phrase “voi, voi” (voice) – to avoid colliding with one another.
Once a player locates the ball heading towards them, they kneel down and stretch out a leg to receive it. Although the pace of the match cannot be as fast as an ordinary football match, it is no less exciting.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Lanh, the school’s physical education teacher, said: “Usually each team is led by two coaches. One stands in the middle of the pitch, calling out to direct the players’ movement and passes to teammates. The other stands behind the opponents’ goal, calling out to let the children know where the goal is so they can aim their shots”.
Deprived of the ability to see, the players with visual impairments focus all their energy on their ears. Listening to the sound of the ball, the coaches’ voices and their teammates’ movements at the same time… all the background noise forces them to filter sounds by hearing in order to recognise and locate things. The rules of football for people with visual impairments do not allow spectators to cheer with shouts of encouragement.
Laughing and crying with football
Two Arsenal players, Ignasi Miquel and Emi Martinez (the tall ones in the photo), also lost out to this blindfolded way of playing football..
According to Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong, who manages the school’s pupils with visual impairments, the team was founded in 2004 by journalist Vu Quang Vinh (then editor-in-chief of Nhi Dong newspaper and Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation – VFF; he is now editor-in-chief of Thieu Nien Tien Phong newspaper).
The team was founded partly because the school always wanted to create healthy recreational playgrounds to partly make up for the disadvantages the children face.
After the team was “born”, the school invited VFF experts to come and directly teach the children the skills needed for this sport. Ms. Huong said cheerfully: “Even before there was a team, whenever football seasons took place at home or abroad, the children would listen intently on the radio and television.
Especially the matches of the teams they loved. They even brought pots, pans, bottles and jars to cheer with. Although they had never once seen them play, just by asking a player’s name they could tell you exactly how that player played, what their strengths were and how many goals they had scored”.
To date, the team has trained hundreds of children. Many have graduated, and younger children keep training to replace the older generations in competition. Over five national tournaments (organised by the Ministry of Education and Training every two years: the first in Dong Nai; the second in Quang Tri; the third in Dak Lak; the fourth in Thai Binh; the fifth in Thai Nguyen), the team has won an impressive haul: 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.
Le Huy Hao has been the team’s main goalkeeper for about three years now. Hao’s eyes are affected by cataracts, but he can still see dimly, and with his quick reflexes and clean catching he was trusted with the goalkeeper position. Hao said: “My home is far away in Dien Bien. I joined the school when I was 10, and it has been 8 years now. I love football very much because it is a highly competitive sport.
As the match goes on, the players still rush towards the ball with the bell to find it and dribble it. So if a player does not get up immediately, the one lying on the pitch can easily be fallen on by another player, or stepped on by someone else’s boot, which hurts terribly because they… cannot see to avoid it.
Having been with the team for many years, Ms. Lanh has many unforgettable memories with the children.
In 2011, at the tournament in Thai Binh, although they tried their hardest they still came third, so the whole team was very sad. Many of the boys burst into tears. At that moment, she also shed tears but still tried to comfort and encourage them. With just a few words, the children were smiling brightly again, as if it were only one step back to take three steps forward. The children’s spirit of overcoming difficulties and giving their all to their passion is a lesson I was lucky to learn”.
In the team, Le Duc Huong is regarded as a “child prodigy”. Huong has been at this school for 11 years. Since he was tiny he has been crazy about football matches. This Liverpool fan has been injured more than once in training.
Huong said: “At first, not being used to it and moving around without direction, we bumped into each other, and I was injured and needed several stitches. But I have never thought of giving up training. Although I burst into tears at the tournament the year before last, football is truly happiness for me”.
Now, Huong is still an indispensable key player for the team. Watching how this striker handles the ball, dribbles it skilfully and shoots dangerously, many ordinary players would be… envious. At the tournament in Thai Nguyen in 2013, Huong was awarded the title of best player of the tournament, with five goals scored.
One thing that worries the teachers and these players with visual impairments is that after graduation, the children’s “football career” effectively ends. As Huong confided: “As far as I know, in Viet Nam, apart from the football tournament organised by the Ministry of Education and Training every two years, there is no other playground for us. I always dream of football tournaments like the V.League, or even further, a World Cup for people with visual impairments”.
Tran Hung – http://www.tamguong.vn