Blind and vision impaired football kicked off at South Melbourne for 2021 on the weekend.
Tuesday 30 March 2021
In partnership with Australian Blind Football, the club hosted a coaches training session. The aim was to equip coaches and volunteers with the skills to understand the game and how to adapt to effectively communicate with and coach blind and vision impaired players.
The three hour course was undertaken at the synethic pitch in Albert Park. Using audible footballs and portable goals, the players were able to return to football for the first time since December 2020 and participate in the coaching education.
Speaking to smfc.com.au the clubs Football Coordinator of All bilities Programs Skip Fulton said “today was a really great start to the year and for the program in general. We had over fiften people involved from players to volunteers to coaches. Our youngest participant Mikhail came down for the very first time to try it out and he loved it.”
“Our program will see training sessions for blind and vision impaired players run from now all the way through until October. We want to prepare the players for matches against other state teams including the likes of Brisbane Olympic, Adelaide Comets and Perth SC. Furthermore there are four National Training Camps this year and with national selection looming we want our South Melbourne squad to be best situated to get a place in the Australian squad.”
The blind and vision impaired football activities are just one aspect of the clubs broader All Abilities Program. South Melbourne FC aims to present the most diverse and inclusive All Abilities Football program in Australia. The club embraces the Football Victoria strategy of Football4All recognising that sport is about fairness and equality, respect and dignity.
We welcome anyone who has a physical or intellectual disability, of all ages, all genders and all abilities to join us. You can read more information about this program and how to participate on our All Abiliities Football page.