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As part of its commitment to the development of ‘Inclusive’ (Disability) football, Leicestershire and Rutland County FA has been awarded a license to run a Regional Centre of Excellence for Blind Football. The aim of the Centre is to identify and recruit blind and visually impaired players, both locally and across the East Midlands who are interested in playing football. Working in partnership with Leicester City Football in the Community, the Centre of Excellence will run on Saturday mornings from September 2011 at Judgemeadow Community College in Leicester and will involve players within two age categories, 12 to 16 years of age and adults over the age of 16. The Adults team will play in the FA National Blind Football League which takes place monthly at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford and the U16’s will attend development days with other Regional Centres. Mary Rudkin, Football Development Officer at the County FA said “This is a fantastic opportunity for our County to be amongst the leaders in the development and provision of blind football. We are now able to offer a structured quality platform for all blind football players that will give them all a chance to develop their football skills in the right environment. For those players who are partially sighted we also have Player Development Centres across the East Midlands, with the ability to signpost players to their nearest Centre of Excellence, which will be based at Derby County FC.”: John Ball, Head Coach for the FA England Blind Football Development Squad said “I am delighted that my home County has been awarded the right to run the East Midlands Region Blind Football Centre of Excellence.  This will promote opportunities for youngsters and adults to play Blind Futsal, which is not only an International but also a Paralympic sport. Leicestershire has already helped to develop six players, two of whom are now training with the England Development Squad. The new Regional Centre of Excellence under the guidance of Head Coach David Eassom, will help to develop new players who hopefully will go on to play in The FA National Blind Futsal League. Their aim then, will be selection for the England Squad and who knows one day they may represent England or Great Britain in European, World and Paralympic Championships”.  Jeff Davis, FA National Football Development Manager, who oversees all the England Disability Football Squads, also stated “The FA are delighted to grant Leicestershire and Rutland FA the license for the Regional Blind Centre of Excellence, these centres are at the heart of our talent programme and will provide players of the future” The Leicestershire Blind Football Academy was developed in 2009 by volunteer members of the Inner City Club Football, Tausif Kadiri, Nadeem Patel and Tauseef Yusuf, who have contributed a tremendous amount to the development of the game over this time. The players involved have been training regularly over the last two years and their development has been a credit to the coaching staff. With the added support of the Leicestershire and Rutland County FA, last season saw the team entering the FA National Blind Football League where they were one of only six teams competing. The teams’ first competitive season saw them finishing a very proud fifth place, often competing against opposing teams involving current England and GB players.If you know of a person who is blind or partially sighted, who would love to become involved in football, or if you would like to attend a number of training days being held during September 2011, please contact: Mary Rudkin at the Leicestershire and Rutland County FA. Telephone: 0116 284 4952 or email: Mary.Rudkin@LeicestershireFA.com www.LeicestershireFA.com/Development