Yunnan blind football team's players take physical exercises after getting up at 6:30 a.m. in every morning. [Provided to InKunming]

Kunming has a special team that represents Yunnan province to attend kinds of football competitions for the blind nationwide or worldwide.

Within the team, the average age of all the members is around 23 years old. Because of governmental encouragement, the team that is formed of young blind men was set up in 2005 by team coach Le Jiankun(乐建昆）in Kunming.

Le Jiankun, a teacher from Kunming Blind and Deaf School, received a mission from the government to organize a blind men's football team and led the team to join in the 1st National Blind Football Championship in 2005.

Football for the blind originated from Spain.The blind football item was firstly founded in the Athens Paralympic Games in 2004, in which year China had never stepped into this field.

Le Jiankun thinks that blind athletes, who are brave enough to choose playing football, should dare to run without fears and be unafraid of aches when falling down on football fields.

Le Jiankun discovered some of the blind athletes in the end. They were Li Xiaoqiang(李孝强），Hu Xiaolei(胡小磊）， Yin Wenhua（尹文华）, senior members of the blind men's football team.

Li Xiaoqiang, 31-year-old, is the oldest and most experienced football player in the Yunnan blind football team. He campaigned in various international events of blind football game after he joined in national team in 2007. The national football team under his guidance had won silver medal in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and got championship in 2010 Asian Games for the Disabled.

Li Xiaoqiang, as one of the leaders of both Yunnan and national blind football teams, playing football on fields with characteristics of valor and vigor, full of flexibility, was nicknamed "Tiger" by team members.

Li Xiaoqiang, Le Jiankun and other athletes, got up at 6:30 am, and went to exercise by running with tinkles of bells everyday in the morning,.

Le Jiankun said: "Every blind athlete who runs out of the first step shall break through psychological disorders and build up confidence in himself. This is an important breakthrough for himself."

At the very beginning, each blind athlete had to learn skilled movements and tactical motions by touching coaches'demonstration actions. They tried to kick a football ball by wearing shin guards with the avoidance of cuts and bruises.

Thanks to all blind athletes'keen hearing, exquisite abilities in direction recognition, they had learned to judge directions of teammates and find rolling locations of a football. They also learned to distinguish side panels'positions on a football field by sensing wind resistance in the process of quick running.

Fan Xingyu(樊兴宇），deputy president of Yunnan Provincial Federation of the Disabled, felt shocked after watching Yunnan blind football's training. "Blind people may face a lot of inconvenience in their normal lives. However, blind athletes of the Yunnan football team who played football like they were healthy people in competitions have abilities to ‘see' and ‘watch'the world!"

All blind athletes in the team also felt having realized higher values of themselves after being a member of the football team and found happiness when pursuing dreams on playing football.

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