Elite U.S. Paralympians are teaching fellow blind athletes the beautiful game can be accessible while pushing to win medals in a sport dominated by Brazil.
was an early star, scoring 128 goals in 144 international matches from 1994 until he retired in 2012 at age 42. He once spent a day teaching David Beckham to play blind football, as the sport is called in most of the world. Clarke was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and currently is head of Paralympics Great Britain.
Blind soccer player Cody Kirchner takes a water break during a recent scrimmage at Salt Creek Park in Chula Vista. “I can help these kids become anything they want. If soccer is something they want to play, let’s get after it. That gives me a lot of joy.”The U.S. national team coach is Katie Smith, a doctoral candidate in adaptive physical education at Ohio State and the only female head coach of a men’s blind soccer team in the world. Five years ago, Smith started a blind soccer program in Columbus, Ohio, that is now one of seven across the country boosted by funding from U.S. Soccer.
“It’s on our horizon, to light that fire with women,” Smith said. “We hope to have a women’s tournament in the Paralympics by 2032 or so.” Soccer probably has a better chance of catching on with the public because about 20 million people play the game in the U.S., including about 850,000 high school athletes.Blind soccer player Charles E. Catherine-Caldaro stretches before a recent scrimmage during a soccer camp at Salt Creek Park in Chula Vista.
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