October 24th, 2008 - International Blind Sports Federation

While browsing uefa.com an unusual soccer headline caught my eye.

Blind futsal seminars a success

First thing I did after reading the article was look up what the heck futsal was. Futsal is basically indoor soccer with a different setup and rules than American indoor soccer. It does not have walls or boards, has limited lines, and uses a smaller, less bouncy ball.

The article was about recent seminars for coaches and referees in futsal for the blind and the partially sighted. The seminars were part of the UEFA-funded International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Futsal Development Project Europe. The conferences were composed of hypothetical and realistic sessions in blind futsal. The seminar was the biggest IBSA blind futsal conference in history.

The article triggered an interest in blind and partially sighted soccer and other athletics. I've never heard of it before, and to be frank, I've never even thought of it before.

After going onto IBSA's website at http://www.ibsa.es/eng/, I found out that they are the legitimate representatives of sport for the blind within the sporting community. IBSA develops and promotes all kinds of sports for the blind and visually impaired. Some of these sports are judo, skiing (different kinds), baseball, futsal, and golfing, among many others.

This is absolutely fascinating to me. It 's hard to play sports as it is, and it takes tremendous skill. To be able to play them while missing a sense that everyone else relies on is amazingly impressive. I give mad kudos to the people that established the IBSA in the 1980's and have continued improving it until today.

Players, coaches, referees, and the organizations should be respected everywhere for their dedication to the cause and the courage to stick up for it.

Click here to view the full article.