The new England blind team and an in-the-works cerebral palsy side are part of what the Football Association has described as a “hugely exciting” current picture in terms of women’s para football.
In its ‘Football Your Way’ disability plan launched in October 2021, the FA stated its aim of fielding two new England women’s teams – blind and CP.
The former, who had their first official training camp at St George’s Park a year ago, are currently preparing for a first world championships this summer, and the hope regarding the latter, with a building process ongoing, is that a side will be established “in the next couple of years”.
Meanwhile, the FA last month announced it was switching focus and funding for the national deaf women’s team from 11-a-side to futsal, and players – having become European champions last year in that format – working towards the World Deaf Futsal Championships that take place in Brazil in November.
On the overall picture, Catherine Gilby, who has been the FA’s head of para performance since January 2022 after more than a decade with British Para-Swimming, told the PA news agency: “It is hugely exciting.
“I think probably historically it’s not necessarily been an option maybe that would have been at the forefront for a young girl with a disability, in terms of pulling on an England shirt. But I do think that’s a reality now.
“We do face a challenge in that space where we’ve got big competition from other para sports. I think that plays heavily, on the female side in particular.
“There’s a bit of education and raising awareness I think we need to do in order to redress the balance. I think it’s not always the first choice at the moment – and we’ve got to change things around so that it’s a choice that any girl with a disability has.”
The blind team are set to be involved in the International Blind Sports Federation World Games taking place in Birmingham in August, and Gilby said of the event: “For the first time, I think we have eight teams competing on the women’s side of things.
“Because of where they (England) are in their journey, it’s a real learning experience for them and I think we’ll have a much better gauge not only of where they’re at, but also where the world scene is at.”
While Gilby says it would not yet be possible to field a full CP team “of sufficient level”, six players took part in a training opportunity attached to a World Cup in Barcelona last year, and she added: “Some of our biggest focus at the moment is working with grassroots teams to make sure we’re supporting opportunity for female CP players to play.
“Then they also feed into our talent hubs and pathway where ultimately we’re confident we can develop them… in order to then field a team. I think in the next couple of years we will have one, but it’s very dependent on getting numbers through the door, which sits with our talent ID team.”
The FA’s switch in terms of the deaf team comes after England in October – a few months on from the historic European Championship success of Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses – triumphed at the deaf futsal Euros in Italy.
England pivot Zara Musker, the tournament’s top scorer, told PA: “It was one of the best experiences of my life and a way of us saying we have got the players here.
“If we can self-fund and win European Championships, then it’s massive for what’s to come. The team’s fantastic, we all work for each other, and it’s just fortunate I’m on the end of the goals.
“Having Maisie (O’Shea, who also plays for London City Lionesses) is just massive for our pathway – if you have an 18-year-old getting into the best team in Europe, can you imagine what she’s going to be like when she gets to my age of 26?”
There is also an England powerchair side that is currently all-male but can be mixed gender – Gilby has said there is “work for us to do at grassroots level to get more females involved”.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
