Bathgate Thistle Community Football Club have partnered with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Scotland to host free football training sessions for children aged eight to 16 with visual impairments.
Following a successful pilot last year, the sessions are set to be hosted in free one-hour sessions at the indoor hall of Xcite Bathgate every Sunday from 10am to 11am.
The sessions will focus on training, development of fundamental skills, but favour on each individual having fun and building confidence, rather than on competitiveness.
Specialised equipment will be used to be inclusive for children with visual impairments, such as brightly coloured bibs, and larger and brighter cones which are more visible.
The training will take place on a hard indoor pitch with caging, making sure the ball stays within the pitch.
The sessions are delivered by Bathgate Thistle Community Football Club, who offer support to the wider visually impairment football network.
This network includes representatives from a variety of organisations and clubs: RNIB Scotland, the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Disability Sport, Rangers Football Club, Dundee United Football Club, and Bathgate Thistle CFC.
Neil Atkinson,22, from Livingston, was diagnosed with the condition Stargardt’s macular dystrophy at the age of eight, and will be coaching the sessions.
Neil plays with Scorpions Futsal Club, which last year made it to the FA Disability Cup, he said: “The sessions are pitched towards players with some level of sight - but each session provides different challenges for each player so it does certainly vary.
“The hour-long sessions consist of short warm-ups then some focused training, working on fundamental skills; bulwark, passing, movement, finishing and some game situations.
“We try to meet the individual level of each player. Each session is focused on fun, and on developing the players’ skills and confidence.
“For the last portion of the session, I like to have an open game, allowing players to use some of the skills they've learned in the previous exercises.
“For the time being, it would be difficult to support players with no or very limited sight who require more one-to-one support
“However, we do want to offer support to blind players as soon as we can.
“If there are players and parents who aren’t sure if the sessions would be appropriate just now, I’d be more than happy to talk to them, for them to come along to a session and find out if it is accessible.
“We are always open to hearing from other clubs and organizations to get involved or to support them with their own accessibility of football for visually impaired players.”
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