Fort Worth soccer player Ricky Castaneda, who lost his sight at the age of 14, has a clear vision: to teach others with disabilities that it does not prohibit them from accomplishing their goals.
Castaneda’s next big goal is ensuring the U.S. has a blind soccer team to represent the country at the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. Although blind soccer, also known as five-a-side soccer, has been a Paralympic event since 2004, the United States currently does not have an active national team.
Castaneda is doing what he can to change that. “By 2028, we’ll be ready for LA,” he said.
As an ambassador for the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and the co-founder of the local amateur five-a-side team Metro Blaze, Castaneda is spreading awareness of the game. He attends clinics around the country, teaching the sport to others and building an army of players.
Blind soccer, played with modified FIFA rules, is governed by the International Blind Sports Foundation, which organizes the World Championship for the sport. It is played in 60 countries and is the fastest-growing Paralympic sport globally. The USABA began offering blind soccer programs in 2018, with an eye toward the 2028 Paralympics.
As the host nation for the 2028 Games, the U.S. team would not have to qualify because it would have an automatic berth in the competition.
Blind soccer is played with a special ball with beads or a bell inside so players can hear its location as it moves. There are four players plus a goalie on each team. The players call out “Voy!” a Spanish word that means “I am coming!” as they run down the field to help them avoid collisions with other players.
The goalie, a sighted player, calls out the left, right, and center positions of the goal so that the person kicking the ball will know where to aim. In addition, a sighted team member, known as a spotter, never enters the field of play but calls out directions to the on-field players from the sidelines.
While it might sound like a lot going on at once, Castaneda says there is an organization to it, just like any other sport. “We understand strategy, we understand movement, we understand sound,” he explained.
Currently, there is no blind soccer competition for women in the Paralympics, but that could change by 2032, according to Jaimie Garzon, the USABA soccer manager, who is working to support blind soccer at the local and national levels.
Meanwhile, Castaneda continues to spread inspiration wherever he goes, teaching others how to adapt and overcome. Like his mother, Castaneda lost his sight due to a rare genetic disorder, but he does not allow that disability to define him.
“You can’t keep living in regret. It can still be something great. It’s still life,” he said.