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A retired Army Ranger captaining Team USA after a traumatic brain injury. A World Cup coming to Georgia that most soccer fans do not even know exists. A version of the game where the toughest calls are not about memorizing rules, but about understanding how an athlete’s body moves and what “fair” really means. That’s where this conversation with Dr. Skye Arthur Banning takes us, and it left me genuinely rethinking the craft of officiating the beautiful game. 

Skye is a Clemson professor of sport management, a veteran NCAA referee, and a leader in two of the most demanding corners of officiating: cerebral palsy football (CP football) and blind soccer. We break down what makes CP football its own sport, including seven-a-side play, roll-ins, no offside, and the classification system (FT1, FT2, FT3) that keeps competition balanced. He also explains how referees adjust decisions by reading “natural position” through the lens of an individual athlete’s disability, not just a generic model of movement.

Then we pivot into blind soccer, one of the most intense and inspiring forms of adaptive sport. We talk sound balls, blackout eye shades, sighted goalkeepers, guides behind the goal, and the “voy” rule that requires defenders to announce a challenge or concede a foul. If you have ever wondered how athletes who cannot see can dribble, pass, and score at speed, this will make you a believer.

If this changed how you see the Laws of the Game, share it with a referee or coach, subscribe for part two, and leave a review so more people find adaptive soccer and the people building it.

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