Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies (TIAS), University ofTsukuba

2020“I thought blind people could never play football”:
Implementing Blind Football in Southern Africa
through TIAS Internship – A Report by Keon Richardson
INTRODUCTION
Blind football—also called football 5-a-side—is an adapted version of Futsal designed forpeople with visual impairments. The sport has been governed by the International Blind
Sports Federation (IBSA; http://www.ibsasport.org/) since 1996 and is played with modified
FIFA Futsal rules. With no official history, the sport started as a playground game from
special schools and educational institutions for the blind in Spain during the 1920s.
Thereafter, the sport diffused to blind institutes in Brazil and England during the 1950s withprimitive rules and equipment. Today, blind football is played in over seventy countries
worldwide, and features as a prominent sporting code at the Paralympic Games since its
debut at Athens 2004. In recent years, blind football has grown apace in Africa. The 2019IBSA Blind Football African Championships in Enugu, November was the largest edition inhistory. The following eight national teams competing: Mali, Libya, Ivory Coast, Nigeria,
Cameroon, Niger, and Egypt. In addition, four female athletes from Nigeria and Zimbabwe
participated in 2019 IBSA Blind Football Women’s World Training Camp and Games inTokyo, Japan, for the very first time.

Caption: Nigeria v Ivory Coast at the 2019 IBSA Blind Football African Championships

Despite the encouraging signs of participation in blind football increasing exponentiallyacross Africa, Southern Africa is bereft of coaching clinics and adapted equipment for this
sporting modality. Consequently, people with visual impairments in Southern Africa areomitted from participating in blind football. With this in mind, I have dedicated a significant
amount of time introducing blind football to students with visual impairments in special
schools for the blind and mainstream schools in Zimbabwe. Prior to joining TIAS, I
successfully implemented blind football in eight of the country’s ten provinces and also
facilitated a national blind football coaching clinic last August. In addition, I raised funds fora female athlete and female coach to represent Zimbabwe at the 2019 IBSA Blind Football
Women’s World Training Camp and Games.
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I completed my TIAS internship from Sunday 12th January 2020 to Saturday 14th March 2020
at the National Paralympic Committee of Zambia (NPCZ), Paralympic Association of
Botswana (PASSOBO), and Zimbabwe National Paralympic Committee (ZNPC), delivering
blind football coaching clinics in various educational institutions and communities. With
support from the IBSA Blind Football Committee, I provided adapted equipment andcoaching manuals for the continuity of blind football participation in each country. Moreover,for my thesis and future publications, I conducted research interviews with Zimbabwean
sport participants with visual impairments using Rowe’s concept of sporting capital toanalyse their perceived barriers and determinants to regularly participate in blind football.

Caption: Tactile coach demonstration with an athlete at the IBSA Blind Football Coaching Clinic in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

ZAMBIAThe National Paralympic Committee of Zambia (NPCZ) was founded in 2005 with the aim ofdeveloping athletes and coaches in sporting codes for people with disabilities in Zambia. The
introduction of blind football in Zambia arrived at a critical point in supporting the NCPZ’s
objective to increase the number of sporting codes available for people with visual
impairments. NPCZ Vice-President Charles Mwamba believed that blind football was “veryappealing because of its potential as a tool to advocate for inclusion and create a platform forpeople with visual impairments to fully participate in sport and society”. The NPCZ intend topilot a blind football league once the sport is established in provinces that have a highprevalence of people with visual impairments. I delivered coaching clinics for the NPCZ in
Lusaka province and Copperbelt province, which were identified as key catchment areas torecruit people with visual impairments for the sport. Coaching clinics scheduled to take placein Northern province and Southern province were cancelled due to the clearance delay of theadapted equipment.

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The first coaching clinic was held from Wednesday 15th January 2020 to Thursday 16th
January 2020 at a community sports ground in Matero, Lusaka province. Ten coaches andfifteen participants engaged in ten hours of training over the two-day clinic. Following the
introduction from Mr. Charles Mwamba, I introduced the audible balls and blindfolds to theparticipants and proceeded with the practical activities relating to orientation, mobility, andthe importance of saying “VOY” (meaning I go in Spanish) whilst defending. The practicalactivities focusing on ball control and dribbling were broadcasted live on local television by
Diamond TV, who also interviewed me and Charles Mwamba.

Caption: Interview with Diamond TV

The second day focused on the procedure for taking corners, in addition to dribbling the ballin different types of slaloms by using participants as human cones. As the basic skills werecovered, I then introduced participants to the match and explain that differ between blind
football and 11-a-side football, such as five players per team, no offside, and the duration ofmatches (two halves of twenty minutes). The participants successfully implemented the basic
skills into an end-to-end match. As everyone thoroughly enjoyed the game, a second match
was played. After the second match, the coaching clinic closed with a certificate ceremony
for all the participants.

Caption: Participants demonstrate their triangle-shape dribbling slalom Player dribbles the ball during the match3

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Caption: Player dribbles the ball during the match

Caption: Coach uses tactile demonstration to create a map of the pitch on the hand of a totally blind athlete

Implementing blind football in the community as an integrated setting was beneficial inchanging the perception of people with visual impairments amongst local people, who wereable to see their capabilities first hand. In addition, it also facilitated the engagement of young
people in the township, who were keen to get involved and played in the match as sighted
Goalkeepers.
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Caption: A coach receives his certificate from NPCZ Vice-President Charles Mwamba

The second coaching clinic took place from Tuesday 14th January 2020 to Wednesday 15th
January 2020 at Ndola Lions School for the Visually Impaired in Copperbelt province. I
departed for Ndola from Lusaka on Sunday 12th January with Para-Athletics athlete and NPC
Member Lassam Katongo, who was a participant from the clinic in Matero and a former
Ndola Lions student. Ten teachers and twenty students from the school were put through theirpaces over the two days, learning ball control, dribbling skills, the importance of saying‘VOY’, and shooting.

Caption: Participant passes the ball to his partner

The final day culminated with a match between the students in their respective age groups,
which was enjoyed by all involved as well as spectators. Ten audible balls and twenty
blindfolds were donated to the school in the presence of the Head Teacher. The students
involved were delighted to have a tangible sport to play whilst at school, as they are generally
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excluded from sporting activities. Whilst some students have played (to different degrees) thecore game of 11-a-side football, many if not all were not aware of blind football and enjoyed
the multifarious techniques involved: “For me, I was very happy in the manner we were
dribbling the ball. PA PA! There was an issue of controlling the ball, so you push with one
leg and stop the ball with the other”, said TF, a ten-year-old student. “I’ve learnt that as ablind person playing football, to avoid accidents during the game and when running you haveto say VOY. When it is a free kick, two people have to be on the ball, so that the ball can beeasily moved from the place where it is”, said TS, a nineteen-year-old student.

Caption: Two participants position themselves to take a corner

Caption: Group photo with students and trained teachers at Ndola Lions School for the Visually Impaired

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BOTSWANAThe Paralympic Association of Botswana (PASSOBO) is the mother body of all sporting
modalities for people with disabilities in Botswana. As Athletics and Goalball are wellestablished sporting modalities in Botswana, the introduction of blind football added a third
sporting modality for Batswana with visual impairments to enjoy.
Five participants and five coaches attended the coaching clinic, representing the following
institutions: Linchwe Junior Secondary School, Linchwe Secondary School, Linkokwing
University, Ministry of Health, Matsieng Primary School, Botho University, and Gaborone
Institute of Professional Studies (GIPS) University. Students and teachers from otherinstitutions in Francistown and Mochudi Village failed to attend due to an influx ofadministrative duties around the dates of the clinic. I started the first day of the coachingclinic a presentation on the following: history of blind football; rules of blind football; thebenefits of blind football; and orientation and mobility.

Caption: Coaches and participants watching footage from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games football 5-a-side competition

After the classroom presentation in the morning, I delivered activities focusing on orientation,
controlling the ball, and passing the ball. The second day continued to focus on ball control,with another classroom presentation analysing ball control and reviewing footage fromnumerous international competitions. In the practical activities, the participants wereintroduced to free-kicks, corners, and penalties, finishing with a penalty shootout
competition.
The third and penultimate days focused on showcasing different activities that coaches could
use to improve orientation, ball control, goalkeeping, and shooting accurately. Underpinning
the activities was the STEP model from Black and Stevenson’s Inclusion Spectrum
framework, an activity-centred approach to change the way an activity is presented for allparticipants to be fully included. From the STEP model, this includes modifying the space,task, equipment, or number of people in an activity. In a Goalkeeping activity that I
delivered, for example, three players were stationed by a marker which was five metres awayfrom the Goalkeeper in the 5x2m area. Players that were positioned on the marker at the7

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middle and the right had a non-audible football. The player to the left threw to the
Goalkeeper in the area. After receiving the ball, the Goalkeeper threw the ball to the player tothe right. Once the Goalkeeper threw the ball, the player in the middle threw their ball to the
Goalkeeper. The Goalkeeper then threw the ball the left and the receiving player on the rightthrew the ball back to the Goalkeeper to repeat the sequence in the opposite direction. The
sequence would continue with the focus on catching the ball with two hands, quick reactions,distribution, and decision making. As two of the players were partially sighted, I changed theequipment by using a bright yellow ball. Additionally, to make the activity more inclusive forthose who are totally blind, I changed the equipment and people by replacing one sighted
player with a totally blind player who threw an audible ball instead of a non-audible ball.
When the Goalkeeper wanted the ball from the totally blind player, they called his name orclapped their hands so the athlete could audibly measure where to throw the ball. When the
Goalkeeper would pass the ball back, they then rolled the ball on the floor for the athlete to
audibly locate the ball. The coaches found the concept of the STEP model very interesting
and began to suggest ideas of ways to implement the STEP model in other activities.

Caption: Coach giving a tactical demonstration to a totally blind athlete on how to shoot using the toes

Caption: Participants orientating themselves around the pitch

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Caption: Two players stationed to take a corner kick

The final day involved introducing a two versus two non-contact matches and the full contact
match. Using the STEP model, I changed the task of scoring a point in the non-contact match.
To score a point, an athlete had to pass the ball to the guide (positioned behind the dottedlines) and the guide must stop the ball with their foot or hand. This helped improve passing
accuracy and dribbling to unbalance the opposition defence. As there were not enoughathletes and coaches to play a full five-a-side blind football match, using the STEP model, thenumber of players in the match was reduced to three players per team (one Goalkeeper andtwo outfield players). The time was already reduced to ten minutes per half considering thetemperature and the intensity of playing three-a-side. The participants reported that the match
was highly intense, but they gained regular touches of the ball and a better understanding of
the concepts of defending, attacking, and counter attacking. The coaches also enjoyedguiding their athletes in the match under high intensity. The participants were proud to be thefirst cohort in Botswana to be trained in blind football and intend to impart the skills to theirstudents at their respective institutions. The next page highlights the anonymous feedback on
the coaching clinic from the coaches and participants. “I was impressed with the facilitator.
He was knowledgeable and if it was not for him, we would not have known there is blind
football”. “The coaching clinic was very important and needs to be given higher priority.
There is a need to do this once every four months for students to gain experience”.

Caption: 2 v 2 non-contact match

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Caption: Full contact match using three-a-side format

Caption: Participant group photo with their certificates10

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ZIMBABWE
The Zimbabwe National Paralympic Committee (ZNPC) is responsible for developing
sporting codes for people with disabilities in Zimbabwe from grassroots to elite level. The
ZNPC enlisted my services to introduce blind football in Zimbabwe through a one-day
workshop at the University of Zimbabwe on Tuesday 6 th April 2018. Since then, I havefrequently returned to the country to deliver provincial and national coaching clinics insupporting the ZNPC’s goal to implement blind football in all ten provinces within
Zimbabwe. The aims of my internship were threefold. First, to implement blind football in
the remaining two provinces (Mashonaland Central and Midlands). Second, complete followup coaching clinics at schools where blind football had already been implemented. Third,
introduce blind football in educational institutions that have not been engaged previously.
From Monday 3rd February to Sunday 9th February 2020, I delivered blind football coachingclinics at Mahuwe Primary and Secondary School in Mashonaland Central for two days.
Thereafter, I conducted follow-up coaching clinics at Jairos Jiri Association School for theBlind in Mashonaland West province for three days and McKeurtan Primary School in
Bulawayo province for two days.

Caption: Student takes a penalty amid a large crowd of spectators at Mahuwe School

Caption: Kick off for the match between the female students at Jairos Jiri Kadoma

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Caption: Group Photo at McKeurtan Primary School

I then proceeded to the remote areas of Matabeleland North province, from Tuesday 11 th
February 2020 to Saturday 15th February 2020, to deliver two-day coaching clinics at Fatima
Primary School in Jotsholo (Lupane district) and Chipale Primary School in Lusulu (Binga
District).

Caption: Hundreds of spectators from Lusulu community gather to spectate the blind football coaching clinic at Chipale Primary School

After that, I was situated in Matabeleland South province, delivering follow-up blind footballcoaching clinics for primary and secondary students Solusi School and Mtshabezi Schoolfrom Monday 18th February 2020 to Friday 21st February 2020. A match was scheduled to12Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies (TIAS), University ofTsukuba2020

take place between the two schools at Mtshabezi High School on Friday 21 st February 2020,
but Solusi School could not source fuel to make the trip.

Caption: Student with a hearing impairment supports a totally blind student dribble the audible ball at Fatima Primary School

Caption: A totally blind female student from Fatima Primary School dribbles the ball with freedom

The seventh week involved facilitating a five-day blind football coaching clinic at Copota
School for the Blind in Masvingo province from Wednesday 26 th Feburary 2020 to Sunday
1st March 2020, which included two students and four teachers from Mutendi High School,

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and one teacher from Great Zimbabwe University. The trainings at the clinic were separated
according to gender and age.

Caption: Female student from Copota School for the Blind takes a six-metre penalty

My penultimate week started at St Faith Primary School in Rusape, Manicaland province, fora follow-up blind football coaching clinic from Monday 2nd March 2020 to Tuesday 3rd
March 2020. I then proceeded to Murewa Primary and High School in Mashonaland East
province for a two-day blind football coaching clinic from Wednesday 4 th March 2020 to
Friday 5th March 2020. The two-day clinic introduced the Primary School students withvisual impairments as well as follow-up training with the High School Girls Blind FootballTeam. I completed the week with a two-day coaching clinic at Nyamuzuwe High Schoolfrom Saturday 6th March 2020 to Sunday 7th March 2020 in the same province.
I concluded the last week of my internship by introducing blind football at St Giles Special
School in Harare province from Monday 10th February 2020 to Tuesday 11th February 2020,and Lower Gwelo Adventist School in Midlands province from Wednesday 12 th February2020 to Thursday 13th February 2020. I delivered a training session at the University ofZimbabwe in Harare on the morning of Saturday 14th March 2020 before flying to Tokyo.

Caption: Group Photo with Murewa Primary School students and teachers from the Primary and High School

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Caption: Former St Giles student (white shirt) and current student (red shirt) enjoy a trust building activity

Caption: Female student from Lower Gwelo High School takes a strike at goal

Each educational institution that engaged in the clinic received audible footballs andblindfolds as an incentive to continue practicing blind football. In addition, I also sourced
goalballs and blindfolds to provide to the following goalballs teams: McKeurtan Primary
School, Copota School for the Blind, Redbull Sports Club, Mtshabezi High School,
Bulawayo Sports Club, St Faith Primary School, Bindura Sports Club, Chitungwiza Sports
Club, and Matebeleland North SRC.
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REFLECTION
Completing my internship in Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe allowed me to identify andcomparatively analyse the external factors which influence (or hinder) the development ofblind football in all three countries. The external factors included the following: regional
economy; societal attitudes, media, financial resources, human capacity development,
governmental support, parental support, and geographical location. The coaching clinics were
extremely beneficial in boosting the participants’ self-perception, social interaction, andmobility, in addition to how their parents, teachers, and sighted peers view their capabilities.
For some participants, it was their first time to kick a ball, let alone play a game of blind
football. This is highlighted in a conversation with RS, a primary school student at Ndola
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Lions School for the Visually Impaired: “The football I used to play was only one tactic
where you kick the ball then wait for it to come back to you. We were just passing to eachother. But here there is even dribbling and running. There are a lot of things involved.
Learning all those techniques made it very wonderful compared to the football I played in thepast”.
From the research interviews conducted in Zimbabwe reported that blind football has
increased their self-esteem, fitness, and proprioception. In addition, their daily life skills, suchas confidence to walk independently, have also improved. Participation in blind football has
led to some students feeling equal to their sighted peers, whilst others are striving for a careerin coaching: “I want to be a coach, not to be coached always. I am aspiring to be a coach so
I have my own team. I want the whole nation [of Zimbabwe] to know that I can coach blind
football”, said RT, a high school female player at Jairos Jiri Association School for the Blind,
who also coaches the school’s Primary Blind Football Team. “I thought blind people could
never play football. We are now being recognized that blind people can also play football.
We are playing like the sighted people. I no longer look down upon myself, because I knowthat I can also do what my sighted peers are doing”, said DT, a primary student from Copota
School for the Blind.

RECOMMENDATIONS
For all three National Paralympic Committees to sustain participation in blind football (andother sporting codes), affiliated federations which cater for a specific sport should be created.
For example, Blind Football in Botswana should be developed by Botswana Blind Football
Association as an affiliate member of PASSOBO.
In Zambia, the NPCZ should use trained coaches from Matero and Ndola Lions School to
implement blind football in communities and schools. As Ndola Lions School has a strong
catchment area of athletes for blind football, follow-up coaching clinics should be held. The
NPCZ should also attempt to partner with the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) to
support their objective of establishing a blind football league.
In Botswana, follow-up training should be completed in the institutions that attended themaiden blind football coaching clinic. Moreover, introductory training workshops should beheld at the institutions in Mochudi Village and Francistown that failed to attend the coachingclinic. As well as engaging the Botswana Football Association in their development plans,
PASSOBO should also collaborate with the ZNPC to gain advice on strategic plans forchallenges such as engaging women in blind football.
Zimbabwe can be seen as the hub for blind football in Southern Africa, boasting
international participation, women’s blind football, and blind football in all their provinces.
The ZNPC should hold regional coaching clinics for men, women, and youth from acrossZimbabwe and its neighbouring countries, such as: Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, South Africa,
and Namibia. To change the perception of people with visual impairments amongst parents
and communities, a parent-child blind football programme should be implemented and morecoaching clinics should be conducted in communities where people with visual impairments
are situated and also hidden. The ZNPC should also identify coaches who could be coachdevelopers to implement blind football in neighbouring countries to bolster the developmentof the sport in throughout Southern Africa.
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CONCLUSION
The internship was a huge success, from introducing blind football in Botswana and Zambia,
to successfully implementing blind football in all ten provinces of Zimbabwe. The synergy
and reciprocity between all three NPCs and key stakeholders (parents, coaches, andeducational institutions) allowed the people with visual impairments to fully enjoy the sportof blind football and its numerous benefits. I felt appreciated and valued by everyone I
worked with, particularly the participants. The two-month internship in all three countries
enhanced my coaching and coach developer practice, allowing me to trial and modify
different activities. Both the expected and unexpected issues during my internship boosted
my confidence to remain calm in conflicting situations and my ability to apply practical andapplicable solutions to problems. Engaging in dialogues with NPC members, athletes,
coaches, parents, and advocates for people with disabilities benefited my research project andmy overall understanding of the reality of promoting blind football in Southern Africa.
I would like to deeply thank Mr. Michael Bulagango, ZNPC President, Mr. Titus Kebuileng,
PASSOBO President, and Mr. Charles Mwamba, NPCZ Vice-Preisdent, for allowing me tointern at their respective NPC. In addition to that, I wish to thank Mr. Nesbert Hokonya(ZNPC), Mr. Boikanyo Ratlou (PASSOBO), and Mr. Moses Chishimba (NPCZ) for theirunwavering support in mobilizing people with visual impairments, media, specialist teachers,
and key personnel for the coaching clinics to be a success. I wish to also thank the IBSABlind Football Committee for their ongoing support with donations of adapted equipment.
My thanks also go to Associate Professor Yukinori SAWAE (Academic Supervisor),
Assistant Prof. Xiaojie TIAN (Internship Committee Chair), and Prof. Randeep RAKWAL(General Mentor; who encouraged me to pen down the experiences in the field for sharing theexperiences with the sport and scientific community, and reading and checking the article),
for their guiding support both before and during the internship. Last but not least, I would
like to extend my thanks to the Internship Committee, TIAS Office and University ofTsukuba for making the internship a success from a logistical and financial standpoint.

Dated: 2020.05.09

Signed:Mr. Keon Richardson
Graduate Student, 5th Batch
Tsukuba International Academy for Sports Studies (TIAS)
Master’s Program in Sport and Olympic Studies
Master’s Program in Health and Sport Sciences
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences
University of Tsukuba
Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
http://tias.tsukuba.ac.jp/

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