A group of kids kicking around soccer balls on a sunny day wouldn’t be a particularly unusual sight in Chicago, except that on Friday morning the group at Midway Plaisance Park all wore blindfolds.
The group was part of a free soccer clinic put on through a partnership between the Chicago Park District and the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes that is helping introduce visually impaired players to blind soccer and other sports.
The blindfold “basically puts you on the same playing field, and it makes you have equal vision to the other players” 17-year-old participant Adrian Sanchez explained, noting that players’ level of visual impairment can vary.
Louise Morrison (left), 11, and Adrian Sanchez, 17, hold adaptive soccer balls Friday during a clinic for visually impaired youth at Midway Plaisance Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
While he has played soccer before with his cousins, Sanchez said this was the first time he’d played soccer specifically adapted for the visually impaired.
“I definitely want to play more,” Sanchez said after taking part.
At the clinic’s halfway point, the players gathered together in a huddle to do a cheer:.
“Building blind soccer,” they yelled.
The hope is that with such enthusiastic participation the park district can eventually form teams.
During the clinic, players learned to use the specially adapted soccer balls, which have bells inside, to complete passes and score goals.
Sheena Hager, a Chicago Park District program event coordinator, tosses a ball during a soccer clinic for visually impaired youth Friday at Midway Plaisance Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
“Schools don’t necessarily have the resources that [the park district has]” said Daniel Hermle, assistant manager of special recreation for the Chicago Parks Department. “A lot of these programs and events require specialized equipment.”
Hermle said the program gives participants the opportunity to engage in recreational activities they might not have the same opportunities to participate in at school.
“Our goal is always to be recreation focused and get to the point where they are independent in their recreation,” he said.
A second clinic is planned for Sunday that is open to adults exclusively.
Coaches Diego Rivas (right) and Toyi Anaclet (left), both with the Chicago Fire Football Club, try to find a soccer ball while wearing eye pieces that block their vision during a soccer clinic for visually impaired youth on Friday at Midway Plaisance Park in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Mariah Rush is a staff reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South Side and West Side.