02:56Nine-year-old Londoner Mikey lost eyesight but never lost passion for football
A nine-year-old boy Mikey, who lost his sight two years ago, was filmed during an indoor football training session in London on Monday.
Mikey's football coach, Ollie Monksfield, says the young player has "a tremendous bit of talent," adding he is "doing a lot of ball manipulation, conditioning, passing, everything you could imagine but in blind football it's adapted and he's doing tremendous."
Monksfield continued: "Hopefully we're preparing him to play for a club. Once he plays for a club, he has the potential to play for England and fulfil his dream."
At the age of six years old Mikey's parents took him for a routine eye test where it was found that he had a rare retinal disease called rod-cone dystrophy. "At the point of that diagnosis he was fully sighted," Mikey's said, adding "within 18 months, he lost his vision completely. So the doctors were astonished at the speed of the disease as were we."
Despite being completely blind, Mikey has never lost his passion for football. The boy's football skills have already picked up the interest from the England team and he will be eligible to join the B1 blind squad when he's 13.
Mikey's progress can be followed on his personal social media accounts: Twitter (@mikeypoulli), Instagram (@mikeypoulli), Facebook (mikeypoullis) and YouTube (Mikey Poulli).
02:56A nine-year-old boy Mikey, who lost his sight two years ago, was filmed during an indoor football training session in London on Monday.
Mikey's football coach, Ollie Monksfield, says the young player has "a tremendous bit of talent," adding he is "doing a lot of ball manipulation, conditioning, passing, everything you could imagine but in blind football it's adapted and he's doing tremendous."
Monksfield continued: "Hopefully we're preparing him to play for a club. Once he plays for a club, he has the potential to play for England and fulfil his dream."
At the age of six years old Mikey's parents took him for a routine eye test where it was found that he had a rare retinal disease called rod-cone dystrophy. "At the point of that diagnosis he was fully sighted," Mikey's said, adding "within 18 months, he lost his vision completely. So the doctors were astonished at the speed of the disease as were we."
Despite being completely blind, Mikey has never lost his passion for football. The boy's football skills have already picked up the interest from the England team and he will be eligible to join the B1 blind squad when he's 13.
Mikey's progress can be followed on his personal social media accounts: Twitter (@mikeypoulli), Instagram (@mikeypoulli), Facebook (mikeypoullis) and YouTube (Mikey Poulli).