KOCHI: Ask 19-year-old Raphel John how different is the game from regular football. He quips, "It isn't." The young player from Chellanam, who was selected as the goalkeeper to play at the Asia's first Amputee Football Championship says he never felt losing a limb has hindered his goals. In fact, he is full of grit and enthusiasm and is revving to go.
Raphel says he lost his right hand in an accident involving crackers at the tender age of five. Surprisingly, he began playing football after the accident. When a disability can hinder some of life's most joyous moments, Raphel proves otherwise. "I began playing football in Class I. Football is the thing in my place. It comes naturally to us," Raphel said.
He was inducted into the school team in Class VIII. However, it took him two more years to realise that football was his true calling. "After Class X, I decided I wanted to take the sport seriously. The school would not grant me extended leave during Class XI, therefore I dropped school and focused on the sport," Raphel continues.
How was he selected to the Asia's Amputee Football Championship? "My coach, Kishore sir, told me about the championship. He trained me and saw to it that I persistently practised the special techniques. I attempted the selection process at Thrissur," he said. The footballer says he was 100 per cent sure that he would be selected to the national team. "I've been playing seriously with regular children which has given me a lot of experience. They never made me feel I lacked a limb," Raphel said.
Nevertheless, the road to the championship wasn't easy. When Raphel was 15, he was selected to the Ernakulam team. However, he wasn't considered. "I got through the final selection process, and yet they chose players who'd failed in the semis. That was probably the only time I wasn't taken seriously," he said. He says his family has been understanding of his passion for football.
"My folks were initially apprehensive about the sport, now they've got used to it. They know I can't be deterred from it," Raphel said. The son of a fisherman is also a gold-medallist at the National Taekwondo competition, "I have an eye on the Olympics with respect to Taekwondo. And football, Fifa it is. Who knows?," he concludes.