When second-year global studies student, Hillary Scanlon, was diagnosed with Nystagmus, a rare condition that involves involuntary and rapid movements of the eyes that complicates her vision, the first thing she wondered about was soccer.
โIn January, things started to deteriorate. Iโm still not completely confident on why that is. Iโve always had visual impairment โ I donโt have a retina in my right eye. Iโve always adapted and played sports,โ Sanlon explained.
โWhen I got registered with the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the the Blind) in February of this year, that day, the first thing I was thinking to myself was, โwell, what about soccer?โ โWhat am I going to do about soccer?โ So I spent the whole night researching if there was a way to play soccer with visual impairment.โ
Scanlon played soccer since she was four-years-old and has always had a burning passion for the game. She was recently a driving force in sighted intramural soccer over the summer, but it wasnโt until her reduced vision started interfering that she had to come to terms with an unfortunate truth: soccer was too difficult to play with her condition.
Until now, there wasnโt another way for those with visual impairments to play soccer in Ontario.
At the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, Canada participated in every sport except for one: blind soccer โ soccer for the visually impaired.
The sport is open to athletes from different ranges of visual disability and requires much training and support to breed success. Wondering how it works?
Itโs a sport entirely dependent on echolocation. In other words, the playersโ audio reception is the primary sense required to play.
The specially designed ball is equipped with a bell, sounding like a baby rattle, so players can listen to the direction of the game and coaches along the sidelines are expected to further instruct where the action is. Because thereโs many levels of visual impairment, each player is blindfolded throughout the game. This throws every player within the same blacked-out perspective as soon as the whistle is blown.
This year, Scanlon will be playing on Ontarioโs first blind soccer team, part of the Kitchener Soccer Club, with hopes of eventually participating in the Paralympics.
โItโs actually a great sport for anyone to play, sighted, not sighted, visually impaired, because it taps into so many different senses that regular soccer doesnโt,โ Scanlon said.
โItโs definitely an opportunity that I didnโt think I would have.โ
The team is still in itโs early stages of development and is looking for more legally blind players to jump on board, but the game is encouraged to be played by anyone.
โBlind soccer is a way for anybody to play the game of soccer,โ said John Fearnall, a volunteer coach with the Kitchener Soccer Club who has had up to twenty years of experience coaching sports for players with special needs.
Goalies are permitted to shout out prompts when the ball is in their zone, but this is done minimally to avoid disclosing positioning to the offensive players.
โLEFT! RIGHT! FORWARD! BACK!โ These are the common shouts echoed throughout the game.
โWeโre looking for more visually impaired players along with two sighted goalies,โ Fearnall explained.
The team is welcoming members from different ages and many levels of previous soccer experience.
However, for players like Scanlon that are used to playing the sport sighted, itโs important to gain a feel for the field.
At the start of each practice, players are led throughout the dimensions of the turf with blindfolding masks on โ this allows them to develop an internal understanding on the distancing of lines, where the opposing zone is and how much space there is before each net.
Practices also entail passing around and interpreting the positioning of their teammates based on the coaching staffโs instructions.
For Scanlon, the sport can be considered a beat of hope.
โIt means a lot to me because I didnโt have to give it up.โ
Scanlon is also a member of the Wilfrid Laurier University club Eye to Eye, which focuses on education and resources for visual impairment. With them, Scanlon will be conducting a Blind Soccer tournament on November 19.
โItโs just an opportunity to get people out for an event for Eye to Eye,โ said Scanlon.
โIt will be educational, breaking the stigma for why people are visually impaired and why thereโs adapted sports. Itโs going to be fun for everyone.โ
โWhat I really love about the game is that itโs so global and itโs so accommodating. Anybody could play it. Thereโs always a way to play it. Thereโs always a place to play it. Thereโs always something you could do.โ
For now, Scanlon will continue playing the sport she loves, with the end goal of playing on Ontarioโs first blind soccer paralympic team not far out of reach.
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