Blind students gain confidence on the pitch

By HU MEIDONG in Fuzhou and CHEN MEILING | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2021-11-05 09:26
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A female member of the Fuzhou School for the Blind's soccer team practices on the pitch in Fuzhou, Fujian province. 

Players at a school for the visually impaired in Fujian province face their fears, put their best foot forward on the field

Visually impaired Olympic soccer player Wang Yafeng explained what it's like to run in the dark. "It's like there is always a wall in front of you," he said.

But sight is just one of the senses useful in his chosen sport. There are others.

At the Fuzhou School for the Blind in Fuzhou, Fujian province, where Wang is working as a coach after retiring in 2016, a boy plays with a specially designed soccer ball that makes sounds while rolling. At one point, he kicked the ball, producing the sound, and then ran the width of the field at full speed in pursuit.

Wang spoke to him gently, noting that the little player had been hesitant. "Are you scared of running with the ball again?" he asked.

He said it takes time, sometimes two to three years, for a blind player to overcome their fear of the dark, and he never criticizes a student for not being brave. Soccer is all about quick, precise reactions, but for a blind player, it also takes patience.

"The first step is to encourage them to face their fear, learn to run and then learn to run with the ball," Wang said.

He lets students feel the movement of his ankles, feet, legs and knees when he passes the ball and shoots. He wants them to remember the sensation and to copy it. A single movement may need to be practiced hundreds of times, he said.

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