“Striker Muani strikes into the centre, passes to Kamada along with his proper foot. The midfielder can shoot – and scores! From 18m, along with his proper foot, it is 1-1!”
Jens Henrich releases the big pleasure he feels straight into the microphone as he describes the second when German football staff Eintracht Frankfurt equalises towards Dortmund.
Visually impaired fans following the sport from Block 27 E and F cheer wildly from the stands. They can not see the objective however are elated by the reporter’s detailed description on their headphones.
Meanwhile sitting behind Henrich are Jens Romeiser and Michael Kenneweg, who’re additionally beside themselves with pleasure. Together, they make up Eintracht Frankfurt football membership’s visually impaired reporting staff and convey every second of the Bundesliga residence sport towards Borussia Dortmund.
Unlike radio or tv commentators, they describe the motion on the sector in far better element. “We lend the fans our eyes,” says Kenneweg. “That’s why we do not say we’re commentating, we’re reporting.”
As Eintracht Frankfurt performs towards Borussia Dortmund within the Bundesliga, partially sighted fans and their mates are following the motion due to specifically trained reporters.
It is extremely intense, in order that they move their microphone on to one another each quarter-hour. “In between, we have to catch our breath and have a drink, as quick as we have now to talk,” says Henrich.
Their voices, all their emotion and their alternative of phrases and intonation add as much as create pictures of the sport for fans who’re visually impaired and expertise the sport by listening to concerning the motion.
“We attempt to describe to the fans as exactly as doable what we’re seeing,” says Romeiser, 46. He has been reporting the Eintracht games for 12 years. He is a civil servant, on weekdays.
Many different golf equipment in Germany have comparable reporting providers, accomplished on a voluntary foundation, he says. “In the tip, we’re all reporting primarily for the fans after which for the membership.”
At Eintracht, nevertheless, all reporters at the moment are employed on a short lived foundation, although this was a very long time coming. “We needed to work for it for years,” remembers Romeiser.
Jens Heinrich is a specifically trained commentator and, forward of the sport, he appears by way of binoculars on the gamers on the bench, to be prepared to explain all the main points to the partially sighted among the many spectators.
Guest fans are additionally welcome in Block 27 E and F. During the match, the reporters stand in the course of the 2 blocks, in order that they have one of the best view of the sector. “You can hearken to our commentary from each nook of the stadium, however most individuals benefit from the ambiance standing collectively right here within the block,” says Romeiser.
There are not any extra screens for a greater view, merely binoculars and a magnetic board. Before kick-off, the reporters place the gamers on the board in keeping with the line-up of every staff. “You know your individual staff effectively, after all. It’s troublesome with the opponents,” says Romeiser.
“We typically take our cue from particular options comparable to unusually vibrant footwear or again numbers,” says Kenneweg. Such particulars are necessary.
Often, fans who’re visually impaired or blind know what crimson jerseys or yellow footwear seem like. “Not everyone seems to be born blind.”
The extra precisely you describe the sport, the higher you may make the sport expertise for fans, the reporter says.
Reporters for the visually impaired obtain common coaching. At courses supplied by the German Football League (DFL), they meet every year to additional enhance and develop. “We learn to converse clearly and appropriately. With the excessive tempo of the sport, you actually should have it down,” Romeiser says. There is not any animosity with the opposite golf equipment. “At the tip of the day, it is all concerning the good trigger.”
The DFL says it really works carefully with the golf equipment on the subject of reviews for the visually impaired and welcomes the truth that the problem is gaining consideration and significance.
“Audio-descriptive reportage is now supplied in any respect Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga venues, and at many golf equipment it’s also streamed stay on-line,” says Thomas Schneider, head of the DFL’s fan affairs division.
One of the fans current in Frankfurt is Aribert Pohl, 67, and a loyal Eintracht follower for 50 years. He attends each residence sport and is a member of the Blind and Visually Impaired Association within the state of Hesse (BSBH). “Here within the block, we’re all like a household. We additionally get on splendidly with the visiting fans,” says Pohl, who additionally heads the BSBH district group in Frankfurt. The affiliation represents the pursuits of blind and visually impaired folks, with round 1,700 members within the state.
A younger visually impaired fan additionally recurrently involves the stadium with a blind pal. “The guys do an excellent job, we’re so grateful to them for that,” he says of the reporters’ work.
The fans additionally profit from a particular stadium service: The Bundesliga membership gives a pick-up service from residence for folks with visible impairments.
Romeiser and his staff in the meantime should watch out to not make the opposite staff’s sport sound much less fascinating. “Sometimes it is troublesome. As a reporter, you are feeling for the fans within the stadium,” says Kenneweg. – dpa/Serhat Kocak
by 
