Blind Find Game In Mexico Soccer League Rebecca Blackwell - The Associated Press
go to original June 18, 2014

Players from Cruz Azul joke around with the ref as they take the court for the third place match, during the 2014 finals of the Ignacio Trigueros soccer league for the blind and visually impaired, in Mexico City, Sunday, June 8, 2014. Many of the players live outside the city in the Estado de Mexico. Many of them commute up to an hour and a half by public transport to reach the matches. Due to the distances and the players' work schedules, the teams can't hold practices. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

MEXICO CITY - As nations from around the globe battle in the World Cup, a more unusual soccer championship has just been decided on a hard court in Mexico's capital.

For 18 years, the men of the Ignacio Trigueros Soccer League for the Blind and Visually Impaired have spent Sundays traveling long distances from their homes to central Mexico City to play the country's most popular sport.

Each six-man team is allowed one sighted player or two visually impaired players who can use their eyes on the court. All other players wear blindfolds to make sure they are evenly matched.

Without their eyes to guide them, they rely on the sound of a special ball ricocheting off the boards that surround the court or is rolling at their feet. Risking collisions and falls, the players pass, shoot, defend and occasionally even slide tackle.

When the league started, players used a soda can filled with pebbles to make noise, said Miguel Angel Canela, who plays goalkeeper for the Italia team. Then they began putting ball bearings into store-bought soccer balls.

Read the rest at SFGate

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!