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info@rnc.ac.uk


Football


Blind Football is based on traditional 5-a-side Futsal, but the pitch is surrounded by boards and the ball contains ball bearings to allow players to locate it by sound.


The first international blind football competitions took place in the late 1980s. Under the leadership of Tony Larkin, the first head coach of the blind and partially sighted team, RNC has been building on the last 25 years of experience to master training and development for the next generation of blind and visually impaired players.


Footballers at all levels are welcome at the RNC Sports Academy, in B1 to B2/B3 categories. Coaches will work with you to develop an understanding of spatial awareness, orientation and communication skills before supporting you out on the pitch. All of the basic principles of football are covered, including control, passing, dribbling and shooting, as instructors help you to develop your unique, personalised training programme.


There are opportunities to play in national leagues and our partnership with Shrewsbury Town Football Club gives you the opportunity to work with coaches from a professional team.


Real stories: Brandon Coleman


“I played 11-a-side football in Plymouth until I lost my sight at the age of 17 due to a condition called Leber’s Optic Neuropathy. I am left with only seeing a pixelated blur and distinguishing light and shade. There was no local option to play blind football, but once I started at RNC I got something back in my life from when I could see.


“My previous manager had no real belief in me, but here Adam has shown that he does have belief in my skills and abilities and has put a lot of effort


into training me. I repay that by putting my commitment into football and it provides me with something to focus on outside of my other lessons.


“The possibility of training with England was something I never would have had in sighted football and I thrive off the idea of playing for my country one day. I went to St George’s Park to train with them in September 2015 for the first time – the feeling was unreal! My aim is to get my first cap playing for England.”


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