The women’s time has come

At an exhibition match, at Bengaluru, blind women footballers played an impressive game. Now the Indian Blind Football Federation is moving full steam ahead to set up women’s teams all over the country as well as conduct tournaments

By Shevlin Sebastian

When Denita Lyngdoh stepped onto the pitch at the Bull Ring Football and Sports Arena, at Bengaluru, she felt a rising excitement within her. She was part of the five-member Bengaluru Red blind women’s football team. On the front of her red T-shirt can be seen the words, ‘Healing Lives’, while at the back there is the logo of the Tata Trusts. Her eyes are covered by a red mask. On her feet are red boots.  

Her team is playing a demonstration match against Bengaluru Blue. This took place during the men’s national football championships in April. Soon, she gets a pass from her colleague Mohini. The ball has ball bearings inside it. When it moves, there is a ringing sound, so Denita can get an idea of where it is. She runs forward with the ball. The opposing defenders have to shout ‘Voy Voy’ so that Denita does not crash into them.

She swerves past one defender, then the next. As she approaches the goal, a guide from behind the goalpost gives instructions to Denita on where the goalkeeper is standing as well as the distance between the two posts. Denita takes a shot. But she does not know whether the ball has gone in. Till the announcer says, on the public address system, “No 6 Denita has scored.”

Then she runs back, raising her arms skyward. “I don’t know how I did it,” she says, on a cloudy evening at a coffee shop in a mall at Bengaluru. “But I felt so happy when the ball went in.” As the match continues, Denita manages to score another goal...

Denita has always loved football. When she was growing up in the village of Marshillong in Meghalaya, she would play football with her brothers and sisters. But when she broke her spectacles a couple of times, while playing, her parents advised her to stop playing. She had been suffering from glaucoma from age four onwards. Now after decades, she had got another chance.

And so has her friend Namita Haloi, who is originally from Guwahati, but both are now based in Bengaluru now. “When I first played football, I loved the experience,” she says. “I was always interested in sports and took part in athletic competitions in school.”

Meanwhile, the Kochi-based Sunil J Mathew, the Sporting Director of the Indian Blind Football Federation (IBBF) as well as the head coach of the national team, says there are plans to put together women’s teams in Delhi, Bengaluru and the North East. “We are hoping to hold a six-team women’s tournament by the end of the year,” he says. “Efforts are on to train women coaches and trainers too. We will be conducting mini camps, along with awareness tours all over India.”  

Sunil has another goal: to put together a national team so that they can participate in the first World Championships in February, 2020 at Nigeria, which will be conducted by the International Blind Sports Federation. “Of course, we will have to get sponsors,” he says. “If we manage to put up a team, we will be the second, in Asia, after Japan.”

But the girls in Bengaluru are not waiting for developments. On most weekends, Denita, Namita, Mohini, who is from Uttam Pradesh, and locals like Nagaratnam and Jyoti go to a ground in Yeshwantpur and play for an hour under the guidance of their friend Dominic Nido, a 23-year-old visually challenged graduate, who is from Arunachal Pradesh. An avid footballer, he is now studying computer training.

Dominic gained a lot when Sunil invited him to Kochi to attend a coaching camp conducted by Ulrich Pfisterer, the chairman of the International Blind Sports Federation in September, 2017. “Ulrich taught us how to dribble, and to cut in from the side to the centre, how to score from a penalty kick and take corner kicks,” says Dominic. “I am passing this knowledge to the girls. They are all very enthusiastic and want to play a lot. I think football gives them a chance to express their personalities. Hopefully, Sunil Sir will be able to put up teams and hold tournaments soon.”  

Box:

Rules for blind football

In five-a-side blind football four players should be B1 (fully blind), while the goalkeeper can be B3, which means he can have partial sight, or be fully sighted.

The area of play is 40 x 20 metres. There are cushioned boards placed on all sides so that the ball does not go out. It also prevents players from hurting themselves. “Before the match, the referee places eye patches on the players to create total darkness, as some may have a slight perception of light,” says Sunil J Mathew, the coach of the Indian team. “A protective blindfold ensures that the players are protected from head injuries.” A game lasts 50 minutes, with a break of 10 minutes. During a match, players can be substituted any number of times.

(An edited version was published in Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)