News & Fixtures

 

NCBI in association with Paddy Power bookmaker and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) teamed up to host the first Blind Football Tournament in Ireland last Saturday 26th June in UCD.

Paddy Power’s involvement in the tournament stems from their latest TV advert which shows a blind football match where a cat with a bell on its collar runs onto the pitch and is unfortunately mistaken for the ball. You can watch the advert at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEmA_QF30GI

David Nason, one of the trainees at our Rehabilitation Training Centre on Whitworth Road, was also involved in organising and running the event. David is a passionate football fan himself.

The tournament was played last Saturday 26 June in UCD’s Sports Centre, as 16 teams of five players went head to head in a series of 10-minute matches starting at 12pm with a Blind Football skills demo given by English Blind Football Team captain, AJ Ahmed. The level of skill shown by the players was jaw dropping. All players adapted incredibly well to not being able to see by constantly communicating with one another in order to let their team mates know where they were positioned on the pitch. The sighted goal keepers also played a key role in helping score goals by instructing his/her players where to direct each shot. After some fine displays of blind football, the overall tournament winners were presented by AJ with medals, a trophy and €250 worth of Paddy Power vouchers.