Newport’s Tom Bevan will run a half-marathon blindfolded in a bid to raise $10,000 for programs for blind footballers.
The fund-raising effort is a partnership between Blind Sports Victoria (BSV) and Social Goal (SG), which started Australia’s first blind and vision-impaired soccer teams.
Mr Bevan will be guided by SG co-founder David Connolly at the Melbourne Marathon on October 12, leading a team of more than 30 players, volunteers, friends and a guide dog.
“We’ve set up a junior vision-impaired football program in the north of Melbourne and we’re about to start an eight-week adult blind football-skill development program in Docklands,” Mr Bevan said.
“These projects are the first of their kind in Australia.
“We’re dreaming big – of an affiliation with Football Federation Australia, an inclusive blind football league, a national team and a [Paralympic Games] gold medal in 2020.”
Blind football is an internationally recognised sport played at the Paralympics, with players locating a special ball by its rattling sound.
“The blindfolded run [is] a fantastic way of raising disability awareness and, most importantly, challenging public perceptions of what people with a disability can do,” Mr Bevan said.
“Training is also a great way to get the disability story out there. People are always intrigued about these two guys strapped together, one of them with a blindfold.”
For more details or to donate, visit www.mycause.com.au/charity/6454/BlindSportsVictoria
