VisiBall a new inclusive opportunity

 

Module 1: Brief intro to the game – origin, rules, equipment

 

Following a recent conversation with a Bulgarian secondary school headmaster, who shared that integrated v.i. students cannot possibly get the skills and knowledge, which specialized schools with tyflopedagogists and orientation and mobility specialists could offer. It came as a confirmation to the reason why we developed the Four-minute barriers project in the first place and the VisiBall game was conceived.

At present, in numerous countries across the EU, v.i. children, integrated in mainstream education get one major benefit, which in itself is extremely important, but should not be the only one. This benefit is the adoption of relatively acceptable social behaviour and attitude towards other people, which is an issue in establishments where the majority of students have v.i. and/or multiple disabilities. Mannerisms are much harder to neutralize in such settings, where the competitive and socially intense mainstream schools impose (gently or not so) corrections to inappropriate or inacceptable behaviour.

The day when we will see the best from both worlds harnessed in a common chariot, pulling youth with v.i. ahead, is still afar. Hence the idea of trying to help mainstream educational establishments and general sports clubs and facility providers in easing the cohesion of mixed ability groups of young people, thus improving the chances of successful integration and socialization of children and youth with impaired vision. The other scenario, which is called integration, but which has little to do with integration at least as far as sports are concerned, sees the v.i. classmate/s sitting somewhere and waiting for the sports classes to finish.

VisiBall as a sport is already making its way through to the hearts and souls of both v.i. and sighted players. The fact that, following proper training and preparation, the game can be played at a pretty fast-paced tempo and the positive and enthusiastic feedback from both sighted and v.i. VisiBallers, proves that the Four-minute barrier team is on the right track.

As we have spoken many times, simulations of vision loss can leave people with a very wrong impression about life with sight loss. If not done properly, it can only leave the sighted with an impression of what it is like when you suddenly lose vision.

The exercises for sighted players, proposed in this MOOC, including simulations of sight loss, are done in a meaningful way. Those simulating are together with v.i. people, who explain how they deal with various situations and what solutions they use. Playing together teaches the sighted players how to make themselves “visible” for the visually impaired footballers, which is an awareness for life.

The exercises for the v.i. players, proposed in this MOOC, should you decide to include VisiBall in your agenda, inform the coaches how to prepare these players to search for and master the ball with their feet. Without any preparation, a blind football fan, would have no idea of what exactly is happening on the football field. They would know the roles of the players – goalkeeper, defender and attacker, but cannot imagine how the ball is directed, stopped, passed, how possession is maintained. Exercises that develop coordination, running skills, ball possession and passing skill are a must if you would like to introduce this sport as a part of the agenda of your establishment.

The VisiBall uses the 5-against-5 futsal at its base. Its rules however are different, because the idea of the game is to have sighted players, who are not blindfolded, play a game of football with visually impaired players in mixed teams. The requirements for the passes and for the involvement of the v.i. players in the process of preparing and scoring a goal are installed for the purpose of guaranteeing equal involvement and enjoyment of the game for all participants. The fact that the sighted players are not blindfolded during a game of VisiBall (even if they have the opportunity to test their skills with blindfolds during training), but are instead educated how to mark their location to their visually impaired colleagues on the field and play a game together, carries the potential of pure inclusion.

The detailed handbook with the VisiBall rules discusses in more details what players each team consists of, what Guides there are on the field, what the players should do before they score a goal, what is a foul and many others.

If the above sounds logical and interesting to you and you would like to create VisiBall opportunities, consider your facilities first. Ideally, the VisiBall court is a football pitch, measuring a minimum of 38 by 18 meters and a maximum of 42 by 22 meters (the first measurement in both cases describes the length of the pitch and the second measurement – the width).

The court would require barriers – either hard-fixed barriers as described in the handbook, or human-barriers, formed by spectators of the game, who assist the blind players to stay within the boundaries of the field. Even if the game is possible without the fixed hard barriers, getting the conditions to their perfect status should be planned carefully and implemented in order to guarantee the sustainability and longevity of the initiative.

The court is presented in the following diagram below:

The goal itself is 3 meters wide and 2 meters high.

The rectangle area around the goal is marked with A on the diagram and represents the Goalkeeper’s area. Its measurements are 5.82 meters wide and 3 meters deep. That is the area within which the respective goalkeeper can move and play the ball.

A wider area in front of the goal, marked with B, is the Penalty area. It is a semicircular area (marked with a B on the diagram) which includes the goalkeeper’s area and in which the penalty kick is taken against the team committing a foul.

Then comes the Penalty disc, marked with C on the diagram, which is drawn 6 meters from the midpoint between the goal and equidistant from it.

The Free-throw disc is marked with D on the diagram and is drawn on the field 8 meters from the midpoint between the posts and equidistant from them.

A very important point is marked with E – this is the position of the person in the team filling the role of Guide. The Guide is the person directing the advancing v.i. players towards the opponents‘ goal in order to help them locate the position of the opposing team's goal and keep them safe by warning them of any danger. The Guide may only speak when the ball is in the offensive half of their team's field. Sighted footballers cannot give verbal indications to blind players, but can only announce their position with the word "voy" when they move near a blind player of any of the 2 teams with the intention of avoiding dangerous clashes. The sound ball is informally a mobile guide inside the field.

N.B. Considering the need of the visually impaired players to be able to hear – both the sonorous ball and the other players – the audiences of VisiBall matches should be instructed to stay quiet in the same manner that this is done with goalball for example.

The last two important parts of the court are the defensive guide area and the offensive guide area. The Defensive Guide area is the part of the field, in which the goalkeeper acts as defensive guide by giving directions to their blind teammates during a defensive action; it matches the entire half of the field, in which their team defends. The Offensive Guide area is the part of the field in which the Guide, located at point E, acts as offensive guide by giving directions to their blind teammates during an offensive action; it matches the entire half of the field in which their team attacks. The placement of the guides is important and should stay fixed, because that is the aim of the v.i. players. They should at all times be able to find the goalkeepers door based on the instructions given by the guide, standing behind it. This would mean that there should be some space for the guides behind the two doors, where they can fixate themselves and give directions.

If you want to organize VisiBall matches in your establishment, you will need 2 teams, formed by 5 players (1 sighted goalkeeper, 1 or 2 blind players and 3 or 2 sighted players), 1 Guide and 1 coach, plus a maximum of 6 players on the bench, waiting in case of need for substitution. Each team should have a captain, representing their team during the match and being in charge of addressing the referee and other officials; they must strive to maintain good conduct and sportsmanship within the team; to be recognized among their teammates, the captain should wear a band on one arm.

The goalkeeper can move exclusively inside their own goalkeeper area of 5 by 3 meters and can use shoulders, arms, forearms or hands to play the ball; only sighted people can play the role of goalkeeper; the goalkeeper cannot leave the goalkeeper area, otherwise there is a penalty kick for the opposing team and a cumulative foul.

The visually impaired footballer can move around the entire playing field without constraints; both sighted and blind players are prohibited to use shoulders, arms, forearms or hands to touch the ball.

1 match has 2 half-times of 25 minutes each, with 1 break at the end of each half-time and time-outs called by the teams' coaches. Each break has a duration of 10 minutes. Each time-out has a maximum duration of 2 minutes.

There are certain pre-goal conditions and requirements towards the positioning of the players of each team on the field, which are presented in details in the Handbook.

It is important to understand that in order for the game to be inclusive, the sighted players need to agree to certain requirements they should oblige, guaranteeing that the game is progressing with the effective and fruitful participation of the blind players. Thus, for example a blind player may tackle a sighted player who is in ball possession, while a sighted player may not tackle a blind player who is in ball possession. Also, which is extremely important, a sighted player may not place himself in the trajectory of a shot of the blind player, otherwise a cumulative foul will result.

For checking the full list of rules, consult the Handbook.

According to the rules, the team that scores the most points at the end of the match wins. A team gains 1 point every time the ball crosses the goal line, defended by the opposing team, 3/4 of the way. Auto-goals are possible here as well and they give a point to the opposing team. There are no pre-goal conditions in case of auto-goals. Each player on the field has the possibility to score a goal, provided that their team has reached the pre-goal condition.

Making your venue a possible VisiBall host would mean that you need sonorous (rumble) balls -containing rattles that produces a sound that allows blind players to understand the position of the ball and orient themselves on the field – and helmets for the v.i. players in order for major head injury to be avoided in case of collision. Even if the sighted players are properly instructed to protect the v.i. players, the latter can run into someone else and hurt themselves.

In order to obtain the latter, contact your national union of the blind. In Bulgaria for example the supplier of sonorous balls is BG Assist, while helmets and protection for shins, elbows and knees, if you consider you will need that, can be obtained from sports outlets.

In addition to the helmet, the visually impaired players, when they are active on the field, need to wear obscuring masks. These are self-adhesive eye patches with a minimum size of 7 by 5 centimeters on both eyes and on top of those - obscured protective masks, fixed so that the player cannot see anything. Such masks must be worn regardless of the vision loss condition or level of the player. This would make all v.i. players equal on the field.

 

Module 2: The Referee in VisiBall

 

The game of VisiBall requires a minimum of 2 referees, 1 main referee and at least 1 other support referee. The game rules fix this as 1 main referee and 1 support referee, but from experience we can now state that the requirement for the support referee should be for at least one, two being better, considering the complexity of the rules the referees need to be constantly monitoring.

The main referee in VisiBall has the role of main decision-maker in all situations and controls the correct course of play. He or she has the possibility to interrupt the game to consult the support referee/s before making a decision; the main referee has the possibility to correct the support referee if he considers that the latter's decision concerning the pre-goal rule is wrong. In such cases, in order to restart the game, the main referee launches a free ball in between two opposing players or gives the ball to the side that had ball possession.

The support referee(s) must check that the sequence of an offensive action has been carried out correctly considering the fulfillment of the pre-goal requirement or, if this is not the case, state that the action is no longer valid. They may assist the main referee in checking that the players announce their position correctly by saying "voy". In addition, the support referee must monitor whether the two sighted players arrange themselves correctly on the pitch and exchange positions correctly (one in one half of the pitch, the other in the other half).

The position of the main referee is inside the pitch. The support referee/s stand on the referee tower or, if there is no tower, on the pitch if the size of the pitch is equal to or larger than a regular 5-a-side pitch, or off the pitch if the size is smaller than a regular 5-a-side pitch.

As it has been fixed in the rules, the main referee is equipped with 1 whistle, 1 stopwatch and 1 coin with 2 different faces. The support referee/s carries a siren or a sound other than the main whistle to signal the activation or deactivation of the pre-goal condition or requirement, a normal whistle to signal misconduct regarding the position of sighted players on the pitch. All referees must have notebooks to note down cautions, sent-offs and the number of fouls per team. Considering all of the above, the presence of more than 1 support referee would be more than advisable. This would allow a distribution of responsibilities, making it easier for referees to do their jobs. 

Before the start of the match the referees must ask the public to keep silence; subsequently, the main referee throws 1 coin in the presence of the 2 captains, asking for the classic heads or tails; the winning captain can choose the part of the field where to play or the first possession of the ball.

Referees can talk or confer with each other when the game is stopped and if they consider it necessary to make a decision.

When a referee whistles to stop the game, they must state clearly and loudly the reason why they whistled and give the necessary explanations and indications so that the game can resume.

The main referee may stop the game if the players cause too much confusion. The game is resumed with a free ball launched by the main referee in between two opposing players or give the ball to the side that had ball possession and, in case of repeated misconduct, the referee sanctions the player in question for unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

What are the main skills of a good blind futsal referee & a good VisiBall referee?

In order for a referee to be adequate with VisiBall, as with all other sports, he/she should have mastered the rules of the game to perfection. He/she should be able to tell intentional rough play from unintentional one. He/she should be an excellent team player and maintain fluid communication with the rest of the referees during the whole duration of the game. When marking fouls, he or she should be unwavering when marking those. The referee should be able to control aggressive players or coaches. This is particularly important, considering how used the majority of people with impaired vision are to no-contact sports only. Sight impaired players, who have previously been involved in for example only showdown (which is a one to one no-contact game) or goalball (where the two 3-player teams have no physical contact with each other), sometimes get over excited when playing VisiBall, which creates conditions for physical competition on the field that usually takes place between sight impaired opposing players.

An excellent VisiBall referee is able to give clear and precise instructions in the agreed manner during the game. He or she is able to find the correct position on the field, which can provide him/her with a good observation perspective – quite important for catching everything that is taking place on the field. These are the main skills, which referees of both blind football and VisiBall need to have mastered, in order to be adequate.

 

What differences have you noticed between VisiBall and blind futsal in terms of refereeing?

Refereeing in whichever sport is governed by the rules of the game. The decisions for marking fouls during the game are directly related to the individual preparation and the experience of each referee. If there are differences, those are related to the peculiarities of the rules of the different games.

 

What are the most common mistakes a blind futsal referee makes and how are these mistakes different in VisiBall?

The mistakes in refereeing in both sports are related to the level of preparation and knowledge of the rules of the respective game. The decisions for marking fouls depend entirely on the judgment of the respective referee. More complicated game rules, such as those of VisiBall, may lead to more mistakes as far as refereeing is concerned. Game rules for a new sport such as VisiBall should be explained as simply as possible, and understood well by both players and referees. Simpler rules would make the game more popular and widely spread. In the process of game development, the rules can be adapted in one direction or other.

 

What makes refereeing a VisiBall match instead of a blind futsal match easier or harder for a referee?

The involvement of sighted players, who do not wear blindfolds, in the game, makes it much more dynamic, which however requires more precise refereeing. For some refereeing this can be harder, while for others, depending again on their previous experience with similar games and with working with people with visual impairments, it would be easier. Everything depends on how prepared the referee is.

 

Is safety of the players more or less of a potential issue in VisiBall as compared to blind futsal?

Mixing sighted and v.i. Players with blindfolds certainly lowers the chances for a direct collision between sighted and v.i. players, which leads to less problems related to players’ safety. Most collisions that happen during a VisiBall game take place between sight impaired players, however much more rarely than with blind football.

 

Module 3: Venues (indoor, outdoor, schools, sport clubs)

 

Based on the experience, which the partnership has managed to build within this project, VisiBall can be played in all sorts of locations. It can be played indoors (already tested in Italian school gyms and covered mini-football fields in Bulgaria) or outdoors (already tested in Italian school yards and Italian sports organizations open-air fields). It has been tested in various institutions – both school and non-school settings – which serves to prove that the game is universally feasible in all sorts of places. There are certain requirements that need to be met, but once taken care of, the joy of the game can be experienced anywhere.

Getting back to the requirements, what you as a coach, headmaster of a school or manager of a sports club need to provide is safety! Safety in the form of:

• Barriers – either hard fixed barriers (see the VisiBall handbook for details) or human-barriers in those parts of the court where fixed barriers are missing. The game has been tested within covered fields, where the tent around the field fitted almost perfectly 3 of the sides of the court. The fourth side of the court, where there was space for audience and coaches, human-barriers were used in order to prevent the v.i. players to leave the field or collide with something. The game has been tested in locations with no fixed hard barriers, which might be the case of most schools. In such cases spectators make a human shield around the court.
• Helmets for the v.i. players. You need to provide such, considering however the type of helmet – it should provide protection for the nose and at the same time a good possibility for the player, wearing it, to use their hearing. Certain good-looking helmets block the v.i. players’ hearing and make it impossible to demonstrate their full potential on the field.
• Preparation of the sighted players to be more “visible” to the v.i. players without distracting or disorienting them. Following the tests, it appeared that some work needs to be done with the sighted footballers, in order for them to learn how to vocalize their positions. Making the sighted players more visible to the v.i. players will not only make the game safer, but will also raise its speed and its attractiveness for the sighted players. The educational and awareness element is discussed in much more details in MOOC1 Benefits of sports.
• Body protection – grass courts are lovely as far as safety and protection in case of falling is concerned. Body protection is not really necessary if the game is to be played on grass – natural or artificial – except probably protection for the shins. However, grass absorbs the sounds, which the sound balls make, which makes the game harder for the v.i. footballers. Therefore, you should either be really insistent on having the match audience behave and keep quiet or if you prefer a more dynamic game with better chances of inclusion and involvement of the v.i. players, you can go for the hard flooring and there, some protection for knees and elbows should be considered. Hard floored courts provide a considerably better sonorous effect from the balls. Yet, in indoor hard floored courts there is an echo, which requires some absorption. The physical presence of an audience usually ameliorates this echo.
• Covid-19 considerations should also be covered. If your changing rooms are not spacious enough, provide the possibility for splitting the teams and changing in smaller groups, with having the area disinfected before each group uses the area. If the covid-19 hazard is still present, do not invite too many spectators. Make sure the state requirements are met, but also consider what else you should do or be mindful about in order to lower the risk for both the players and the audience. Make sure that when you have an audience that needs to leave the premises, you have specially assigned staff members who explain the rules of entering and leaving the premises, so that there are not too many people packed together at entries/exits. During official matches, it would be wise to have a medic on site. At all times you need to have a team member with a ready procedure for action in case of certain crises – someone (player or spectator) is hurt, there is a fire, something breaks and puts people in danger, etc.

 

Module 4: Exercises and coaching tips, which involve the sighted players, focus on more sophisticated skills and which reconstruct active game play

 

The sighted player blindfolds himself

A: The blindfolded person starts to explore the pitch, at first accompanied by a blindfolded person who helps them to become familiar with it by means of some tactile sensory references (sidelines if present, muscle memory relating to the length and width of the playing surface), then autonomously. Finally, the blindfolded person walks trying to reach the position of a blindfolded person who guides them by signaling their position vocally.

B: The blindfolded person tries to lead a sound ball around the pitch, first autonomously, then trying to reach a blindfolded person who signals their position vocally. Finally, the blindfolded person must try to control the sounding ball thrown to them by a sighted guide standing 5/6 metres in front of them and lead the ball to the guide who signals their position vocally.

C: The sighted person, blindfolded, must try to shoot at the goal, preferably from a standing position, trying as far as possible to hit the mirror. To do this, he is assisted by a guide who, placed behind the goal, points out the posts several times using a small metal object (coin).

D: The sighted blind player must try to pass a sound ball to a sighted guide who signals their position vocally. The guide, in turn, passes the ball back to the blind player who must try to receive and control it. At first, the guide's position will remain the same, then he will gradually move away and get closer at their discretion to the blind man, who will have to refine their passing technique in the dark and their sound perception.

Link video: https://youtu.be/ohbFL2NB0cQ

 

Ball transmission

Passing and controlling the ball through hearing, communication and guidance.

Two blind people are placed, facing each other, one metre from each other's sidelines (where present) and from each other's sidelines (where there are no sidelines). A guide, about ten metres away, supervises the correct running of the exercise and provides vocal instructions and logistical support if necessary. One of the two blind people has a ball between their feet and must pass it to their partner, who signals himself vocally. The partner should try to locate the ball by the sound of the ball and, if necessary, by the guide's instructions. Once the ball has been checked, the second blind player passes it to their partner.

If you have a sideline available, you can opt for an alternative method. Instead of stopping the ball passed by the team-mate, the blind player's objective is to avoid the ball, make it bounce off the bank, control it with their face turned towards the bank, make a directional change by rolling the ball backwards with the sole, alternating left and right feet, call out to the team-mate and pass the ball back to him.

Link video: https://youtu.be/WzoagkY6mz8

 

The shot

A: In this exercise, the blind player is placed on the penalty spot of a five-a-side football pitch. In front of them he will have a goalkeeper and, behind the goal he will have to kick towards, a goalkeeper's guide. The goalkeeper's guide will propose four sounds that will help the blind player to locate the goal, to understand their position and distance from it. The four sound inputs are: the sound of the right post, the sound of the left post, the sound of the centre of the crossbar, to be made with a metal object, and signaling the centre of the door by clapping. After listening to these four sounds and after the coach's whistle, the blind player can kick at the goal.

B: In this variation, the blind player is in the middle of the pitch and has a ball between their feet. In front of them he has a goalkeeper and a goalkeeper guide to help them locate it correctly. When the coach blows the whistle, the blind player will start to lead the ball towards the goal assisted by the voice of the guide who, as he approaches, will indicate the distance in meters that separate them from the goal. The blind player can kick the ball towards the goal when they feel it is appropriate.

Link video: https://youtu.be/gBffCNW7Ac8

 

I pass the ball and move

A: This exercise takes place on a playing surface that corresponds to a five-a-side football pitch. On the playing surface there are four blind players each paired with a sighted player. The pairs will have to move autonomously over the entire surface of the pitch, indicating their position at the appropriate time, using the international term "voy" to be located by their teammates. The blind player carrying the ball, after a few seconds of bell-carrying, must pass the ball to a sighted partner and move into an empty sound space.

B: In this variation, the blind player carrying the ball must not only locate the team-mate to whom he wants to pass the ball and then pass it to him, but must also subsequently locate the other two team-mates all along the pitch and high-five them.

Link video: https://youtu.be/WzoagkY6mz8

 

I pass the ball and move with my opponent

In this exercise, which must be carried out on a playing surface that corresponds to that of a 5-a-side football pitch, there are pairs, each consisting of 1 blind player and 1 sighted player. The aim is for one pair (called the defensive pair, which announces its position with the word "Def") to try to catch the ball while the other pairs must pass it to each other. If the defensive pair should succeed in catching the ball, the pair responsible for the error (i.e. the pair that misses the pass or that last touched the ball before catching it or) will become the defensive pair. All pairs other than the defensive pair must signal their position vocally using the international term "voy" to avoid physical confrontation.

Link video: https://youtu.be/6-BUSSh-MfU

 

1 Against 1

A: In this exercise, two blind players, whom we will conventionally refer to as Player A and Player B, are placed at opposite ends of the half court. Player B is in possession of the ball. When the whistle blows, B calls A, who signals and passes them the ball. As soon as the pass is made, B runs towards the goal and A, after receiving the pass, goes towards the goal leading the ball to the bell. A's objective will clearly be to score and consequently B's objective will be to prevent them from doing so. In their respective tasks, B and A will be supported respectively by the goalkeeper and the attack guide. At the end of the exercise the positions are reversed.

B: In this variation, neither A nor B are in possession of the ball at the beginning of the exercise. The ball is between the feet of the coach who starts playing it. When they hear the sound of the ball, both A and B start towards the sound. The first one to touch the ball with their foot automatically becomes the attacker, gives a few seconds to the other player to go to the defense and then starts running towards the goal.

Link video: https://youtu.be/ARUbcc-xAHo

 

2 Against 1

A: In order to carry out this exercise correctly, it is necessary to have a playing surface that corresponds in size to that of a five-a-side football pitch and, if possible, two sidelines. In this exercise, the blind players are divided into three groups that form three corresponding rows: group A will be stationed at one of the two corners of the half-court next to the corresponding sidelines, group B will be stationed at the half-court penalty spot and group C will be at the opposite corner of the half-court. It is also necessary to have an attacking guide, who will operate behind the goal, a goalkeeper and three operators, each of whom will help the blind to return to their starting positions after finishing the exercise through voice signals. The goalkeeper has a sound ball in their hand which, at their discretion, he will throw to the first player in the row of group A, B or C. If the goalkeeper decides to throw the ball to the first player in group A, the player from group A will decide whether to pass the ball to the first player in the row of group B or C and will then go to defend the goal assisted by the goalkeeper's voice indications. The players in groups B and C, on the other hand, will have the objective of attacking the goal and, through collaboration between them, scoring goals. It is always of fundamental importance that the defender signals their position vocally when attacking the ball carrier, using the international term "voy".

Link video: https://youtu.be/ARUbcc-xAHo

 

2 Against 2

The aim of this exercise is to simulate a two-on-two game situation that occurs very frequently in a Visiball match. In order to make this situation possible, it is necessary to have sighted and blind players on the court, divided into specific groups. We have, as in practice 14 point B, the players divided into four groups, two of them placed at the two corner flags (B and D), and two at the two midfield vertices (A and C). Differently from what is described in practice 14, group B and group C will be sighted players, group D and group A will be blind players. The course of the exercise is similar to the one described in practice 14: the first player of group B (blind) passes the ball to the first player of group A (sighted). At that point, the players of groups A and C (one sighted and the other blind) attack the depth and, cooperating with each other (they must exchange the ball at least once), they try to score and, at this stage, the blind player receives vocal support both from their sighted attack partner and from the back goal guide; vice versa, the players of groups B and D (one sighted and the other blind) deal with the defensive phase and the blind player receives vocal support from both their sighted defensive partner and the goalkeeper. When carrying out the exercise, sighted players may not take the ball away from the blind opponent, but may intercept the ball, while the blind players have full freedom of action.

Link video: https://youtu.be/ARUbcc-xAHo