Words by Tom Falco

New South Wales Thunder defender Nejat Haydar says it’s ‘absolutely brilliant’ disabled athletes are able to participate alongside able-bodied athletes at the 2018 National Futsal Championships.

The Open AWD Mixed tournament allows both male and female athletes with a range of disabilities to compete against other states in a competitive environment.

Haydar was diagnosed with Leber’s Optic Atrophy at the age of 22. The genetic disorder was passed on from his mother and causes blurriness in the central vision.

Having grown up playing football all of his life, both as a visually impaired and sighted athlete, Haydar jumped at the chance to represent his state at the FFA National Futsal Championships.

He says being at the Championships along side able-bodied athletes is ‘phenomenal’.

“We cherish it and love being here just as much as these kids do,” Haydar said.

“Football organisations around the country have embraced the integration and actually included disabled athletes

“I know what it means to play for your state. To be able to do it at a level with athletes with disabilities, it means the world.

“As far as I’m concerned FFA are doing an amazing job to make sure we are a part of it and considered to be equals.”

NSW Thunder head coach Danny Obrador was also quick to praise the National Futsal Championships for providing Athletes with a disability with an outlet to play

Obrador is one of many volunteers contributing at this year’s event.

He says giving disabled athletes their own competition creates an equal playing field.

“The guys would kick the ball in their back yard with their brothers and sisters but never get a chance to play competitively,” Obrador said.

“Soccer is the biggest game in Australia, no matter your age or ability.

“We all love competition and you can see they play pretty hard.”

The AWD competition got off to a great start on Monday, with no shortage of goals scored. 33 goals flew in across the first three games at an average of 11 per game, easily the highest of any division as the athletes turned on the entertainment for spectators at the AIS training halls.