Darren Harris's sporting dedication has taken him to Beijing in judo and now London 2012 for the five-a-side
This summer, I'll be watching as much Olympic and Paralympic coverage as I can muster from the comfort of my sofa. I did attempt to order tickets in the ballot, so it's not for a lack of trying – well, actually, it is.
Early last year I made it over the first hurdle, registering on the London 2012 ticket site. I even just about whittled down which events to go for. But at the last minute, reservations (of the wrong type) set in, and I decided not to purchase tickets for a myriad of reasons.
These were: the expense of paying for tickets and travel to the London venues; the dilemma of which events to choose; the challenge of selecting the number of tickets, and which days to pick; and the fact that London is going to be so very crowded.
I'll be honest, though. The real reason I did not apply is because only tickets to the men's 100m finals would have sufficed – so clearly, my application would always be in vain, because I was never going to win one of those golden tickets.
Ironically, I had a powerful incentive to travel to London, to watch an event other than the 100m finals. But, due to my dithering, I even missed the window to buy tickets to see my multi-talented and rather inspirational cousin, Darren Harris, represent Team GB in the five-a-side football tournament for visually impaired athletes.
Darren made his England debut back in 1996, was made captain in 2002 and played until 2007 – when he decided to concentrate on judo at the Beijing Paralympics (I told you he's a multi-talented sportsman). These days he plays football for West Bromwich Albion, which runs the Blind Centre of Excellence. The team won the 2011-12 blind football league and Darren has won the "golden boot" two years in a row for being top goalscorer.
Darren grew up playing football in Wolverhampton but, by the time he started secondary school, his sight had considerably deteriorated. He did not let that deter him. "Through sport," he says, "you learn skills which are transferable to other areas in life – such as managing expectations, adversity, public scrutiny and being accountable for your actions."
Having studied mathematics at the University of Sheffield, he gave up his IT job in 2004 to become a full-time professional athlete – despite many people advising against this alternative career path. Certainly, it hasn't been an easy journey: in the early days, there was less assistance and financial support for blind football.
When I speak to Darren about his accomplishments, he is always very humble, and places a lot of importance on giving back to his community (he mentors young people through the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust). He believes sport is beneficial in boosting the morale of a group of people – even a nation.
So whatever your view about the torch relay – which passes through West Bromwich this evening, on its way to my home city of Birmingham – remember all those talented individuals like Darren, who commit themselves to years of training and preparation, only to have one short moment to make their efforts pay dividends.
It's a daunting task to be the best in the world. If only I'd had just a fraction of their dedication when I was applying for my tickets.
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