Vishnu Vaghela

Like his football icon Diego Maradona, Vishnu Vaghela dons jersey #10 and dribbles the ball with equal ease dancing past his opponents when playing a match. Like his icon, Vishnu has made football his life’s mission and is seen practicing his drills patiently for long hours. But, unlike his icon, Vishnu is completely blind with no vision. Vishnu practices with a specially designed ball that makes sound while rolling to allow auditory localization by the blind players. The staff, students and visitors at the Blind People’s Association (BPA) can see Vishnu practicing either by himself or with other blind football players that are inspired by him in a lawn at the BPA campus, where he started his football journey upon joining the campus in 2016.

Vishnu is the first visually impaired person from the state of Gujarat to play for the national football team for visually impaired. He is now an international football player and an inspiration to many. We are honored to share his incredible story of resilience, self-belief and commitment to following his passion. He has a bachelor's degree in Arts. He left his masters studies to pursue his passion for football, also known as soccer. He left his studies when he qualified to play a soccer tournament. While many of the visually impaired individuals get a masters in arts to become teachers, Vishnu has found a different calling. He wants to focus on his game and become a successful football player.

Vishnu’s Time at BPA: A sportsman at heart, Vishnu played cricket before coming to BPA. There were really no visually impaired football players in the state of Gujarat when he started playing football in a small empty area outside of the BPA dining hall. This was a completely new game for a visually impaired person and even for an organization as old and as big as BPA, no one really knew much about football for the visually impaired. He remembers explaining football for blind to people at BPA, who would stop him to see what he was up to with that football.

Vishnu’s Talent Gets Noticed: As we noted in stories of several other BPA students, Mr. Paritosh Dave, their hostel rector living on campus 24/7, played a significant role in noticing and nurturing their talent. During his morning routine to collect flowers from the garden for his morning prayers, Mr. Dave would notice Vishnu religiously practicing his football drills. Mr. Dave worked with the BPA leadership to provide Vishnu the support he needed to start playing football at a competitive level.

Achievements: Vishnu’s football journey which began with him playing by himself in small indoor and outdoor spaces at BPA has now taken him to 9 countries, where he represented India in 13 tournaments.

Practicing During COVID Times: While the pandemic did shut down much of the world and force Vishnu to return to his village, it couldn’t dampen his spirit. He would go for long runs in the wide open farm fields with an accompanying dog to stay fit. He and his family members devised homemade exercise and weight training devices.

BPA Support: Vishnu credits BPA profusely for supporting him throughout his journey. Vishnu, who could not have traveled on his own by train in India, has now traveled 9 countries by flight thanks to the support and resources provided by BPA. Football for him was not a choice out of desperation or necessity, it was his passion that he chose and backed by hard work.

Vishnu on Wearing a Team India Jersey and representing the nation: The sense of responsibility Vishnu feels in playing for India is visible in an incident he shared. He recalls falling down during a game and being kicked in the stomach and back by the opposite team. One can imagine how painful this would have been for Vishnu and yet he got back on his feet and kept playing despite the pain to fulfill his duty towards his country. This is the courage and commitment of the highest level.

Current State and Future of Football for Visually Impaired Players: The sense of satisfaction and pride on Vishnu’s face is unmistakable when mentions about the current state of football for visually impaired players in Gujarat. There are as many as 8 teams at district levels and around 4 teams of women football players. He mentions Chetan Prajapati as another national player from Gujarat, several female football players who have played at the national level and several junior players who have yet not completed 12th grade but have already attended national selection camp. He is quick to point to Rohit on his left, who is studying in the 6th grade but was able to make it to the national selection camp. A quick glimpse of several state-level players can be found in this video (link). Internationally, Indian women’s team is ranked 2nd and men’s team is ranked 14th in the world with the football for visually impaired being played in as many as 80 countries.

What’s Next: Vishnu is looking forward to the upcoming professional league for visually impaired players. He hopes that the professional franchises will benefit the sport.

Inspiration for the Next Generation: When asked, Vishnu refuses to take any credit for inspiring a number of players who have followed in his footsteps. He gives the credit to the players for recognizing their passion and showing up on the field. Without them taking this important step to show up to play, there would have been no growth in football for the visually impaired. He credits BPA for welcoming and supporting additional players. It does cost a significant amount of money to provide kits and resources for these players. Despite his success and fame, Vishnu still thinks of himself as a student at BPA who is no different than other children around him.

Vishnu’s Message to Aspiring Players: We tend to think of so many things a visually impaired person cannot do. Instead, one should commit to doing things no matter how impossible they seem. Hard work and determination are the keys to overcoming any obstacle. You can achieve your dreams sitting at your desk in the office, focusing your mental energy in studying or going out there in the field. One has to give something up in order to gain something. Never accept a defeat.