The England B1 blind squad have recently returned from the IBSA world games in Seoul with a silver medal and Crazy Catch were delighted to support their preparation for this event.
Back in January we filmed the squad training at St Georges Park … watching blind football for the first time is truly inspiring and the skills of the outfield players is quite incredible. The goalkeepers in B1 football play a huge role in the game and being fully sighted they are the eyes of the game and effective communication is very important. Technique wise, with smaller pitches and goals its very much about reactions and agility so the Crazy Catch is a natural fit in terms of recreating these scenarios. Working with the squads goalkeeers Dan James, Dylan Malpas and Lewis Skyers is Tony Elliott who also works with the England futsal squad which has some great overlaps.
B1 football has become one of the biggest sports on the Paralympic Games programme following its debut at the Athens 2004 games. This was recognised at the recent London 2012 Paralympic Games when the number of teams taking part rose from six to eight. In Seoul The Three Lions – playing in their first IBSA final in six years – had led through a 24th-minute Dan English penalty, but Argentina scored twice in the final 37 seconds to claim the title.
Silver medal for the B1 squad
Despite the disappointment, they will take solace from the fact they went far further than many would have predicted at the outset of the campaign. (Read more at http://www.thefa.com/news/england/development/2015/may/england-blind-settle-for-silver-at-ibsa-world-games#Czq3gIuCExGTDPGC.99 )
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