The Unseeing Spectator

Tags

Blind, Disability, Diversity, Equality, Guide Dog, Hidden Disability, Loss, Sport, Visual Impairement

“Watching ” a football match when you are blind  is a little funny, frustrating, and faffy all at the same time. Snatching at auditory jigsaw pieces being thrown around by spectators and teams to make up a full picture in my head of what is going on in front of me can make some interesting mental images. Football is really not for me. Give me rugby any day, as its dynamic pace and verbal clues help me follow the game . Hearing the grunt from the impact of a tackle let’s me know I am at the game with the right shaped ball.

Playing football as a child was a little better, or so my rusty memory tells me. My poor older brothers and their friends tolerated me, gatecrashing their kick around on the football pitch behind our home. Hearing the football get caught by the net and the mix of “yes’s” and swear words meant a goal had been scored. The kick of the hollow, high-pitched ping of the ball combined with the skimming  of the grass let me know which way the ball was heading . The different paced shoes on the  grass with differing objects rattling in players’ pockets meant I knew who was heading for me and alerted me if I needed to tackle or assist. The worst moments were, however, when a ball was kicked high in the air and only finding out last minute when it came whooshing towards me that it was going to slam me in my face.

So when my 9 year old granddaughter started playing football a few months ago, I was so pleased for her but did secretly feel like I am probably not the best spectator to go and “see” her play. Nevertheless,  here we are a few months later standing at the side of a football pitch in typical  Welsh wet weather, trying to figure out what is apparently going on in front of me. As she plays for under 9’s, they play 3 teams lasting 20 minutes each. Listening to different games being played consecutively around me takes a lot of focus but gives so much information from the power of eavesdropping. This is a brief rundown of what I have learned from just today’s football matches.

1. There are four  different girls called the same name around me. Two play on the same team, one on another and one as a spectator who I think has wellies on as they sound like thick rubber souls running behind me as her mother chases after her calling her name. I think the mother has trainers on which she probably needs to keep up with her little athlete.
2. One of the coach’s whistle needs a little clean, I think as it sounds a little clogged and not as sharp as another coach’s whistle at the end of the field.
3. One player has hurt her foot and come off to get it looked at , but it’s fine as she can move it in every direction and weight bare so is told to run it off. Lucky, it’s not the foot she hurt last year.
4. Accordijg to a parent to my left, a local pub’s food has gone downhill and the gravy has been lukewarm the last two times they have been there. All should be good in the future, though, as there are new owners taking over after Christma (according to another parent).
5. The ball hitting the plastic sounding net is a regular occurance on my granddaughters team (I have been told to listen to my right to hear her team). Luckily , her team is the one scoring the goals.
6. The girls on one  of  the teams in front of me have been told to spread out on the field six times that I have heard already in the match. The coach has a twang in his accent that sounds like an actor that I am still trying to place
7. People have a different tone  to their “oooh’s” when I think a goal is nearly scored. The tone depends on if it is an excited “oooh” when their team nearly scores or a “please no” “oooh” if the other team score 
8. “One parent has just finished making a penguin costume for the child’s Christmas play but has forgotten to sew a tail on.
9. The end of the game must be soon as I hear fresh new togs hitting the ground around me with excited children chattering away, and coaches wheeling their huge kit bags with them.
10. A chorus of “brrrrr’s” come from many children as their soaked bodies get reunited with their dry robed, umbrella covered parents declaring they cannot feel their hands of feet.  This is the cue to leave and to it all again next week.

It’s surprising how much of an in-depth picture I can gain from those auditory jigsaw pieces flying around. It may not be the right picture the sighted community see , but it is a picture that never fails to amuse me and makes me feel included. Here’s wishing that the gravy gets warmer, the tailless penguin gets gifted a tail, and that poor girls foot will be okay. Joys of football eh?

Visually Impaired Bowls..Again

Tags

Access, Blindness, Bowls, Disability, Diversity, Equal Opportunities, Equality, Gratitude, Hidden Disability, Mobility, Sight Loss, Sport, Vision Impairment, Visual Impaired Bowls

After quite some time away, I decided to go back to play a bit of Visually Impaired Indoor Bowls and ended up getting through to the quarter finals at the Welsh Pairs Tournament. Do you think it’s too late to tell them I still don’t know all the rules of the game?

Playing against some players who have been playing for well over a decade was a great experience as I learnt so much terminology through eavesdropping alone.  I have learnt that a “fire” is something only woods on the green should be scared of, bias is always a good thing to have, and following through is always smiled upon. Who would have thought, eh?

In 2019, I somehow managed to win bronze for Wales in an international tournament despite only playing about 12 times or so before that. My local club play in the week whilst I am in work, so I  only get to play when I am on holidays, so  I can go months between practices, which means that I have totally forgotten how to deliver a bowl by the time I return. For me, I just love going as I am surrounded by people who get what it is like not being able to see as the rest of the world do.

Within the Visually Impaired bowling community, the sighted are the minority group and are the ones directing the bowlers. They are the eyes for us all and the translators between the two worlds. Being among fellow Guide Dog and cane users feels homely where we never have to apologise or explain to others about how we show up in the world as they too can be unashamedly authentically themselves. The sense of belonging is a feeling I will never tire from.

Belonging to the B1 bowlers means I am among fellow severely sighted Impaired bowlers (what was previously categorised as Blind)  who either have no light perception so see just darkness, or have some light perception such as myself but no useful vision. To me, I cannot make out the dark coloured woods on the green as the all merge into one shadowy shade. I cannot see when the wood leaves my hand and I use my ears to  judge if it was a bumpy or smooth delivery and rely on my coach to let me know where it is going. I need to hold the information in my head at all times to try and remember how far my last wood was from the jack and somehow waken my muscle memory to remember how to adjust my next wood. Being blind whilst bowling helps you tune into your body on another level.

Playing against some of the other bowlers who play in the B2, B3 or B4 categories can sometimes feel a little off putting, as although many have differening visual impairements, some use their useful vision to play. Those who can see to the other end of the green and use markings around to help them with their game, may have tunnel vision and such visual disturbances that qualify them to play in a VI team. Playing with mixed ability players is a great experience to help improve my skill level, which I love. The mix of ages within teams is also great, and we currently have an amazing 100 year old gentleman playing with us who plays like a teenager. To some, barriers are just imagined by the faint-hearted

The plan is now to actually begin to understand the game a bit more even though I should already know what I am doing. When you can’t see what goes on around you, you have to keep so much information in your head to help you remember every single detail that the sighted easily access with their eyes. On a plus side , it is really good when I can’t see all the mistakes I make on the green. Sometimes, ignorance can be so bliss.