Azeem Amir: I’m blind – but I love playing football

Azeem Amir: I’m blind – but I love playing football

Azeem Amir loves to get his football boots on for a game of five-a-side, despite being blind his whole life.

The 17-year-old Rochdale Sixth Form College student is so good he now plays for Manchester Blind FC and Merseyside Blind FC, as well as the National Blind League, and is described by his coach as a “fantastic” player.

So how does a visually impaired person play a successful game of football?

The answer is in sound, says Coach Steve Cushion, who has been mentoring Azeem for the last few months: “It isn’t an easy job, but there are special techniques in place which make it possible”, he said.

“To make it fair, everyone has to be blindfolded because of course all visually impairments are varied, so in this game no one can see a thing. The ball creates a sound when it rolls so that it’s easier to locate, and there is a coach like myself standing behind the net, verbally guiding a player and saying when to shoot. The goalkeepers are sighted for safety reasons, and the coaches are sighted of course.”

He added: “Azeem really takes on the challenge and has become a fantastic player. He’s a great kid as well, and he has good family support which always helps. He’s going to do well.”

Azeem remains modest about his abilities. He said: “I’ve just always liked football and being visually impaired has always been a potential burden. I only have 20% sight, so general tasks can be problematic. When I heard of the blind football clubs you can imagine that it was very appealing to me.

“I just really enjoy it, I really love football.”

Azeem, who studies law at Rochdale Sixth Form College, says that as much as he loves the sport, his plans are to go to university to study law.

He added: “I would like to inspire other blind people to get into playing blind football, it has been a really great thing for me.”

Azeem was previously in the news after getting impressive GCSE results at Matthew Moss High School:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/49/school-news-articles/97616/visually-impaired-azeem-amir-overcomes-the-odds-to-achieve-excellent-gcse-results