South players join Asia-Oceania Blind Football Cup
South Melbourne FC footballers have arrived in India to join the Australian national team, the Bilbies, in the 2022 IBSA Asia-Oceania Blind Football Championships.
The South Melbourne squad trains fortnightly between April and October and attend three National Training Camps each year. They compete in the National Blind Football Series at these camps and thus far remain undefeated lifting the inaugural Championship trophy in 2022.
Club President Nicholas Maikousis said “we are proud to have played a part in helping these footballers develop and join the national team. They are part of the Australian team who will be playing competitive blind football on the international stage for the first time ever . These players took their first steps on Lakeside Stadium two years ago and tonight they’ll be representing their Country in the 2022 IBSA Asia-Pacific Championships. It’s a tremendous journey”
South Melbourne FC Blind Football Captain Amir Abdi explained it was a “huge honour” to be named in the squad. “The future for the sport in Australia is exciting and we will be training hard to achieve a good result in India,” he said.
South Melbourne players in the Bilbies squad:
- Amir Abdi
- Brendan Spencer
- Nathan Letts
- Nathan Meneses (GK)
South Melbourne players in the Bilbies squad:
- Ankit Singh (Team Manager)
- Bess Hepworth (Goal Guide)
The Bilbies will play their first fixture against Iran tonight, kicking off at 11:30pm Melbourne time. You can watch the match free on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/qA2wLxw2a0A
You can follow the progress of the team on the on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ausblindfootball
Blind Football is an internationally recognised sport. Australia is eligible to compete in the Asia-Oceania Championships, the World Championships and the Paralympics. It is played outdoors by athletes who are totally blind (B1) on a 40m x 20m pitch with side kickboards and an audible ball. There are two teams of five; four outfield players and a goalkeeper. The outfield players wear eye-shades to equal their sight and the goalkeeper can be fully or partially sighted.
You can read more about the South Melbourne FC program here: https://www.smfc.com.au/blind-football/