Elementary school students in Kanazawa experienced "blind soccer," a Paralympic event played by visually impaired athletes.
About 30 5th graders from the elementary school attached to Kanazawa University participated in the workshop held by Kanazawa City.
Mr. Shuhei Masuda of the Japan Blind Football Association served as a lecturer and introduced that "blind football" is played by players wearing an eye mask and relying on the sound of the bell inside the ball.
After this, the children were taught how to move and how to act as a guide to tell the players where to kick the ball.
They actually used the ball, trapped it, kicked the ball according to the guide's instructions, and cheered when the goal was scored.
A boy who participated said, "I was scared when I first put on the eye mask, but I was relieved when I heard the voices of my friends. It was a valuable experience for me to think about my disability."
This year, Kanazawa City will hold parasports experience events at four other elementary schools.