How One Teen Is Kicking Off a New Era For Blind Football in Vizag and Andhra Pradesh!

Stepping into Nethra Vidyalaya, Shrujan is prepared for a challenge. At just thirteen, he’s graduating from playing football to coaching it. The sport is something he’s loved and played passionately since his childhood, but to the group of teenagers before him, it is uncharted territory. Some pushback is anticipated, and an adjustment period is natural. But their sheer energy and quick grasp of the game? That, he did not expect. After all, the players running around before him are no ordinary bunch; every single one of them is blind.

This was two years ago. Today, after months of sweating, kicking, and training, these kids stand proud as members of the first blind football team of Andhra Pradesh (AP), officially registered with the Indian Blind Football Federation (IBFF)—all in our very own Visakhapatnam!

“It all started a few years ago when I first visited Nethra Vidyalaya, a blind school in Chapaluppada, along with my brother who volunteered there. Sometime later in the ninth grade, I was looking for something impactful to work on, and having it related to football was the ultimate goal. That’s when I approached the school again, thinking that it would be incredible to teach the sport to blind children,” shares Shrujan Bhupatiraju, who is now studying in the 11th grade at Oakridge International School, Vizag. 

Admittedly, blind football wasn’t very well-known at the time, but armed with knowledge gathered from falling down a rabbit hole of Google searches and YouTube videos, he was ready to help some visually impaired kids feel the thrill of sending a ball flying into the back of a net. His first batch of students turned out to be more promising than he’d imagined. 

“They loved the sport. The number of students joining the team grew from 10 to 25 soon enough after I began coaching!” With so many players, one might assume it would be hard to organize, but Shrujan laughs and disagrees, “They were very well-behaved and eager to learn. They’d form a line for the drills even before I asked them to!” 

While the players were athletically gifted, the road to making them self-sufficient had its bumps and bends. “Football is a skill-driven sport, and picking up its nuances is a slow process that they initially struggled with. Over time and with continuous practice, we worked through it,” shares the young coach, who, with the differences in regular and blind football, had his own work cut out for him. 

For instance, in blind football, the ball is slightly smaller and fitted with bells that ring upon contact. The pitch, too, is smaller than a standard one and divided into three sections rather than two, with sideboards placed on either side for safety. The game is played in two 15-minute halves rather than in the traditional two 45-minute halves. To ensure fairness, all players wear blindfolds, regardless of their level of vision, and must shout “voy” (“I’m coming” in Spanish) to warn opponents of their approach and minimize injuries. 

“With such modifications in the game itself and the students’ impairment, it wasn’t an option to use the same drills I grew up with. I had to get creative and adapt them for this situation,” emphasizes Shrujan. 

Building a Winning Team with the Right Guidance

To ensure the students received thorough training, he reached out to Sunil Mathew, IBFF’s chairman, who connected him with Dio, a scout and coordinator, who provided guidance on coaching. 

In August 2024, another mentor stepped in—Trilochan Beura, head coach of the Odisha Blind Football team, who not only came to Visakhapatnam to coach the kids during a camp but also became a mentor to Shrujan.

Soon after, the federation helped some of the players from Visakhapatnam attend a national blind football camp in Kochi to gain exposure. 

These connections played an important part in molding the players to be fit to represent the State and finally, in January 2025, it was the moment of truth: the Andhra Pradesh team played its first-ever IBFF-certified tournament against Odisha, a reigning champion in the National Competition for Blind Football. Against all odds, the AP blind football team won one game and drew another—a historic achievement!

A Victory to Remember

“It was a very commendable effort by our team to compete with a squad at such a high level and still hold their own,” says Shrujan as he thinks back to the moment of victory. “I was very proud and will always cherish it. No matter how many times you play, the first match always sticks with you.” 

Trilochan Beura, who attended the game with his Odisha team, recalls the dedication that went into making the event happen, “Shrujan traced us down from Visakhapatnam to Odisha to meet with us and enquire about how blind football can be developed in Andhra Pradesh. He worked so hard to organise this game and train the team, who played so well! I have to commend Shrujan for his efforts in getting the team this far—it’s beyond what I could’ve ever thought! My hopes are for the AP blind football team to play at the national and international level.”

Echoing this sentiment, Rashad, National Coordinator from the India Blind Football Federation, says, “Shrujan took the initiative to introduce blind football in AP. He did his research, connected with IBFF for support, and thanks to him, we’ve been able to come down here, identify a new team, and organise this match.”

Beyond being Andhra’s first win, the triumph is also symbolic of the trust, teamwork, and love for the game that Shrujan and the players have shared in the last two years. “I believe I have built a great relationship with every single one of my players. I really love the sport and enjoy teaching it to them. It gives me more fulfillment than anything I have ever done!” he says, reaffirming that intends to keep the momentum going. His sights are set on the upcoming Zonal matches, but given the growing interest in football among students, he has a second goal: to start a women’s team in the school.

Looking back on the journey, Shrujan reflects that the progress they’ve made extends far beyond the sport itself. “It’s not just about playing. It is also a great way to build social skills, which is especially vital for the visually impaired. Fitting in can be challenging, but sports make it so much easier. You meet new people, build conversation skills, and make friends.” And the players aren’t the only ones learning; Shrujan himself has had a shift in perspective. “I’ve realized that not everything is based on talent—perseverance goes a long way in self-improvement. I’d also say never underestimate someone’s potential.”

Through his journey of coaching the first-ever blind football team of Andhra Pradesh (AP), Shrujan has had unwavering support from his parents. “My mom, especially, has been the glue holding everything together while I balanced school, coaching, and other commitments. None of this would have happened without her.”

He also credits the staff at Netra Vidyalaya for their encouragement. “The PT teacher, Mr. Somesh, was particularly helpful in gathering the team, motivating them, and keeping them involved even when I wasn’t able to attend. Another person I need to thank is Mrs. Sirisha, who was instrumental in bringing this whole project together from the start.”

Bridging the Learning Gap with AI

Working closely with the staff at Nethra Vidyalaya, Visakhapatnam, Shrujan has gotten involved beyond training the AP blind football team. He has identified another significant challenge that he’s been striving to resolve. “In addition to using Braille as a platform for learning, the students are currently using audio recordings from their school to help speed up the learning process. At present, the teachers are going through a tedious process to voice-record everything which is turning out to be a huge burden on them.” 

To help alleviate some of the workload and to simplify the process, Shrujan has been working on a platform that turns text to audio using AI. While there are platforms that do this, most are either too expensive or the accents are not suitable for use in our environment. 

“The project I’m working on is easier to navigate. Teachers just have to log in, upload a file, and it automatically converts into an audio file that can be downloaded and saved. This way, they can share it with all students at once, without having to spend hours recording everything manually,” he explains.

The platform will also serve as a catalog of resources—storing worksheets and textbooks as reusable audio files, making learning more efficient and accessible. “It’s very close to completion,” Shrujan says. “Now, I just need to put it on a server so it can be accessed online. Ultimately, I would like to have a central repository of all of this information which can cater to multiple blind schools across India.”

Addressing the larger community on a final note, Shrujan urges people to encourage visually impaired children, reminding us that they are just as capable as anyone else. “Professional blind football involves a lot of equipment, like sideboards and other specialized gear. Right now, it’s neither an affordable nor an easily accessible sport. But if enough people pay attention to these issues, that can change.”

It’s a thought worth holding on to. With the right support, a child who once knew nothing about football could one day step onto the field, guided only by instinct, determination, and the sound of a ringing ball. And maybe—just maybe—that same child could go on to wear India’s colors, proving that having passion in sight is enough to truly drive the game.

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