Tournament blog

Countdown to Kick off

‘I thought you were joking when you said they were blind’ a little girl said to me last week. The pupil in question had just been led – at a sprint – around the the sports hall at thePoint4 at RNC by one of the England blind squad (during one of our Blind 2010 school workshops) and then watched her guide slam the ball in the back of the net, despite the best efforts of a sighted goalie to stop him.

It is hard to describe the speed, skill and sportsmanship of the blind football squad. As their captain, David Clarke often says, ‘people expect a group of blind blokes blundering into each to each other. They should come and watch and they will think again’. Of course when people do come and watch – be they 11 year olds from a local school, seasoned sports reporters from the press, or senior England players like Beckham or Terry who we met at a training session before they headed out for South Africa - they are astounded and inspired. We hope you’ll feel the same when you come along to RNC’s thePoint4 to watch the live action as ten nations compete in the Blind World Cup in Hereford this Summer.

Talking of inspired, we’re starting to receive some wonderful entries for our special Blind World Cup children’s competitions – creative writing and fantasy five-a-side – which we launched with the Schools Library Service. One of the judges for the creative writing competition, and one of the visitors taking part in the cultural festival at The Courtyard during the Championship is children’s author Ian Whybrow of Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs fame. One of his stories involves a hero called Thomas Leo Falling who happens to have cerebral palsy. Whybrow, who has a base in Herefordshire, was given the idea by the county’s own Megan Baker House in Leominster, whose pupils pointed out how rarely the hero of a tale is a child with a disability. Through the Cat-Flap was his response to that, and is a smashing story. Whybrow will be at The Courtyard this summer talking a little about how there’s room in stories – as well as on the sports field – for everyone, whatever their ability or disability.

It has been great to see disability sport makes its way into the sports sections of newspapers in recent years, and already we’re receiving requests from the world’s media wanting to put the spotlight on Hereford this summer. In advance of that Channel 4 have already been here filming, and I’m going to be teaching a sports lesson with some of the squad in Jamie Oliver’s much heralded Dream School which will be on TV later this year. Watch this space for more news….

Posted by Tony Larkin on 30-06-2010

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