Football dreams of blind children
■ Our reporter Shen Zhushi
In shache county Special Education School in Kashgar, Xinjiang, a special football match is going on in the afternoon when the warm sun shines on the green stadium. Xinjiang blind-footed teenagers sit in the "home court" and face the Shanghai blind football team.
They wore white blindfolds and neat uniforms. Although they can’t see it, they still listen to the sound on the pitch, run with the ball, and cooperate with their teammates to score goals.
In blind soccer, except the goalkeeper’s vision is normal, other blind players need to know the direction by sound: there are six groups of bells in the No.4 football liner used in the game, and the sound of the bells indicates the position of the ball. Behind the opponent’s goal stood an attack guide, who, together with the coach of the midfield and the goalkeeper of his own side, marked the attack and defense area by shouting. Blind-footed players rely on each other’s shouts of "feed" to get the ball and run.
Bilali Yasen was one of the first players to join the team and was called "King of Strength". Just four months ago, he and three other blind teenagers flew more than 5,000 kilometers to Shanghai. It was Bilali’s first official game, and the strange venue made him nervous, as if he had returned to the training ground for the first time, unable to tell the direction of the goal, and unable to find his teammates and the football. To be exact, his feelings are out of order. After returning to Xinjiang, he polished himself crazily. This time at home, Billy showed a strong offensive and defensive state on the court.
In 2021, under the guidance of Shanghai Education Commission, Shanghai Disabled Persons’ Federation and Xinjiang Disabled Persons’ Federation, Shanghai School for the Blind helped shache county Special Education School to set up the first blind football team, which was named "Feed Football Team", under the coordination of Shanghai counterpart support Xinjiang Work Front Command and shache Branch Command, Shanghai People’s Government Office in Xinjiang, shache County Party Committee Propaganda Department, shache county Education Bureau, documentary film crew of Feed Football Team and shache county Disabled Persons’ Federation.
On the "quiet" court, the invisible tension and friends are chasing their own light, and the bell of football under their feet is becoming louder. With a cry of "feed, feed, feed", the football really rolled to the foot of the pull.
Shoot-
Football has become a light in life
Bilali is a B1 blind athlete. B1 means totally blind, with no vision and no light perception.
He was born in an ordinary village in Yigerqi Town, shache county. He was born blind, and his family depended on raising cattle and sheep for a living. In 2016, when he reached school age, Bilali came to shache county Special Education School to study and live, which was the first time he left his hometown. Every week, Bilali travels 40 kilometers by car, crosses the Yarkant River to the west, and goes to shache county Special Education School.
A completely blind life, slow and quiet. They touch the wall and walk on their classmates’ shoulders. In school, blind children can choose musical instruments or handicrafts, but it is a luxury to want to run freely.
Xinjiang is a hot spot for football, and Kashgar has a "son doll" football team. In 2021, two Kashgar sports coaches went to Shanghai School for the Blind for training. Later, they came to shache county Special Education School and brought a new word "soccer for the blind" that no one had heard of. On that day, what did you feel when you heard that you could play football? For Bilali, he felt as if there was light in his empty eyes, and his body became restless, as if talking about an addictive thing.
In Shanghai, things are also changing. The documentary crew of "Feed the Football Team" wanted to record the lives of children in special groups. Producer Su Yiyan visited Zhang Jian, the head coach of Shanghai Blind Football Team. Zhang Jian is one of the first blind football coaches in China and has nearly 20 years of experience in blind foot training. In June this year, Zhang Jian went to shache county Special Education School to carefully organize football training, and selected four players to come to Shanghai for training and competition. With many efforts, a 40-meter-by-20-meter stadium was copied to shache. Artificial grass replaced the hard plastic floor. Baffles more than one meter high were installed around the stadium. The goal is covered with thick soft material to reduce the risk of collision.
At present, the "Feed the Football Team" has 13 players. They have a bigger dream and hope to represent Xinjiang team in the 2025 National Paralympic Games.
Football for the blind is a game to overcome fear.
13-year-old Adelijiang Tulson is in the sixth grade this year, the youngest of the four teenagers who came to Shanghai. His skin is white and his eyes are big. If he is not completely blind, he should have a flying look. Such a delicate and pretty Adelijiang broke his arm in training. "He also cried." Billy smiled and said. Adelijiang smiled shyly and didn’t speak.
When I first arrived in shache, Zhang Jian’s family visited the parents of every blind foot player. Enthusiastic parents served mutton and asked him to have a good time. However, Zhang Jian has a serious thing to say: he will get injured on the court in the future if he participates in blind football. Usually take care to protect children, but now you have to face the risk of injury. Can you accept it?
The threshold for the introduction of blind football is to run. Generally, when running, the center of gravity leans forward, the forefoot is pushed to the ground, the arms are folded, and the movements are coherent. Blind people are used to crossing the river by feeling the stones, with their hands slightly open and their body center of gravity backward, which is called "blindness". Even knowing that the front is empty and flat, it is difficult to overcome the instinctive fear.
No one wants to see children get hurt, but football for the blind means taking risks. To some extent, blind children are "over-protected" in their lives. Now, they need to go beyond their psychological bottom line.
To learn to run, learn to fall first. Zhang Jian has seen too many injuries, such as broken ankles, broken nose … Whether the young seeds can be cultivated depends on whether they can break through the psychological barrier. In shache, Zhang Jian took a fancy to 16-year-old Nur Abdulla Yusupu and brought him to Shanghai. The child has outstanding sense of the ball, fast action speed and can skillfully make moves such as pulling the ball and turning around. His eyes still have some light perception, perhaps because of this, he has more scruples in running than a completely blind child.
In order to overcome this fear, Zhang Jian thought of many ways. Before the start, he told the team that you are far from the opposite baffle and have enough sprint distance. He commanded the players to chase the ball and heard the bell ringing, indicating that the ball was still rolling and the front was safe. With the deepening of training, Nur Abdulla has never been able to shake off his psychological fear. Zhang Jian said: "It’s a pity that he should wear a blindfold during the game. He doesn’t wear an blindfold and plays football with an blindfold."
Nur Abdullah finally decided to quit the football team. He has come a long way on this adventure. Bilali also thought about giving up playing football, and Adi Lijiang also thought about giving up. They persisted and kept going, not only being able to fly all over the field, but also being more and more skilled in the dribbling of the inside of their feet. Players come in and out, old teammates quit, and new blind children join the team.
Through football, blind-footed teenagers have experienced a different kind of excitement in the dull world. They have coaches and teammates, and they may take to a bigger stage in the future.
"In fact, parents are sometimes happier than their children." The head coach of the team, Adijiang Ai Erken, said, "One player has now become a celebrity in the village. After knowing that his child can run and play football, his grandmother is very happy. She walks around the streets and tells the story of a blind boy when she meets people, and is proud of her grandson."
Help teenagers integrate into normal life with confidence.
Ibrahim Abdul Waili, a ninth-grade student with a disabled left eye, is the main striker and captain of the team. He scored twice against the Shanghai Blind Football Team. He used to be a little fat and physically weak. Since he participated in the training and competition of the football team, he has been much stronger, and his height has increased from 1.70 meters to 1.86 meters. He said: "Mom and Dad are very happy to see the changes that exercise has brought me."
"The competition of the stadium conveys the hope of never stopping, and there are also many gains outside the stadium. Children are not tied up because they can’t see, and their hearing has a sense of vision, which can greatly help them integrate into normal life. " Liu Yirong, principal of shache county Special Education School, said, "Taking children to Shanghai is also to let them feel how the blind people live in Shanghai. When children know that blind people can go to work and open stores, they will have more thoughts about the future. "
The life choices and experiences of visually impaired people are difficult to be as rich and varied as ordinary people. Zhang Jian was deeply touched by this: "Take Shanghai for example, blind people can engage in blind massage. But not everyone likes doing massage-working in a closed room, with little interpersonal communication and no contact with the outside world. In fact, with the development of society, the ability of the blind has been better developed, and there should be more and more things they can do. "
Many of the blind disciples Zhang Jian brought out in Shanghai in his early years have already got married. They occasionally get together to play football together. Among them, some people have entered large multinational enterprises, specializing in the work related to barrier-free service applications. During their stay in Shanghai, four Xinjiang teenagers visited Bear Claw Coffee. This is a public coffee shop with the theme of deaf-mute barista, and the barista in the shop has won the champion of the disabled coffee competition. As a super-large city, Shanghai can provide more diversified self-realization for the disabled.
For the vast majority of children in special education schools in shache county, it can be expected that soccer for the blind will not become their profession, and they will step into society one day. The experience of participating in football for the blind can give them confidence and stronger self-will: I can do some things, even if I get hurt, it’s no big deal. In Zhang Jian’s words: "In the future, I will talk with others. You said that I played football for the blind, and people think you have a accent!"
On the edge of the stadium, there is also a young filming team who records every picture with a camera. "I want children to have equal opportunities to pursue their dreams and use the lens to illuminate a better future for the disabled." Su Yiyan hopes to help these children walk out of Xinjiang through blind feet and be seen by the world. In 2021, she started the Xinjiang Young Blind Football Team Project and filmed the public welfare documentary "Feed the Football Team", which is the first documentary about the young blind football team in China. Up to now, the documentary has been filmed for five months and is expected to be completed in October next year. (Wen Wei Po)
