Dream it! Believe it! Achieve it!

Did you know that The Football Association runs England teams for the following groups of male players?

• Blind players.
• Players with cerebral palsy.
• Partially sighted players.
• Amputee players.

These teams train regularly and represent England in friendly internationals as well as European and World Championships. Many outstanding and talented individuals have won international honors (collecting England caps along the way!). This could be you!!

Working in partnership with British Colleges Sport and the British Universities and Colleges Sport, The FA is set to hold a Talent Identification Day in Manchester this November. The aim of this day is to identify talented disabled players who could progress to wear the Three Lions in European or World Championships.

Individuals being invited or nominated to attend may not have previously been aware of the opportunity to represent their country or be aware that they classify for one of the representative teams. Players that The FA wishes to identify are possibly already participating in a good level of mainstream football (dependent on their disability). There may even be some individuals who are outstanding athletes in other sports but feel that they can make the switch to football.

The FA is inviting individuals to enroll to attend the day directly. However, and most importantly, The FA is calling upon College and University staff to identify (and nominate) individuals that they deem to have the potential to progress at this level. This is a valuable opportunity that should not be missed.

The Talent Day will have particular emphasis on students with sensory or physical disabilities (the day will not cater for individuals with a learning disability or a hearing impairment – further recruitment days will be held for additional groups). The impairment specific information provided is important and will hopefully help college and university staff to identify players to attend a talent day.

It will take place on Thursday 5 November 2009 between 12.30pm and 4pm at The Nicholls Football Centre, The Manchester College, Hyde Road, Ardwick, Manchester, M12 6BA.

To register your interest (or a player’s interest) in attending the Talent Day please email James.Watkins@TheFA.com or call 07507 427965 for an informal discussion.

Please note that the Talent Day is for male players aged over 16 at the date of the event.

Disability Specific Information

As mentioned, the Talent Day will have a particular emphasis on students with sensory or physical disabilities. The following impairment specific information will help you identify players to attend a talent day from your college or university.

Blind and visually impaired – classification:

- Visually impaired players who take part in football are classified according to their level of sight as B1, B2 or B3. Players who have B1 classifications are blind, players who are B2 and B3 are classed as visually impaired;
- B1 players may have been blind from birth or may have lost their sight through an accident or degenerative eye disease;
- Blind football is a Paralympic Sport.

Cerebral Palsy – classification;

- Cerebral Palsy football is available to players who are ambulant and are within the CP classification spectrum of 5 to 8;
- Cerebral Palsy may be congenital (from birth) or acquired (as a result of an accident or stroke for example);
- Cerebral Palsy is a Paralympic Sport.

Amputees – classification:

- Outfield players are either above or below the knee single leg amputees who play without prostheses on aluminum wrist crutches;
- The goalkeepers are single arm amputees.