Jacob Heasman: 'No better feeling than to represent my country'

Para Lion Jacob Heasman admits the thought of being an England international is something which would’ve had his younger self in disbelief.

Heasman is a member of our men’s partially-sighted set-up, having first broken into the senior squad as a 17 year old.

He's now one of the established members of John Tapia-Owens’ squad and featured in the Partially Sighted EUROs in Turkiye last November, when the Para Lions finished in third place.

And Heasman has been talking about his condition and how it’s impacted his football journey to this point, which began in his hometown of Crowborough, Sussex and progressed via Brighton & Hove Albion’s para football hub.

"I've got an optic glioma, which is a non-cancerous brain tumour that affects all aspects of my vision,” said Heasman.

“Whether that's long distance or short distances, as well as my peripheral vision, it's all affected quite heavily too so I can't really see things coming from the side either.

"In terms of long distance, I can't really see people's faces. I can see that somebody is there, but not necessarily who they are.

"Communication is a massive thing in the partially-sighted game and we all need to know where we are, where the pass is coming from or where it's going to. So if you're going to play a pass, shouting that it's going to your right foot for example, really helps all of us so you know where the ball is going to go and what decision you have to make.

“I started out in mainstream football and I was a goalkeeper originally. But when the eleven-a-side pitches became too big for me to see because of my sight - I couldn't really see the other end of the pitch - I found Futsal and I started doing that alongside mainstream football and it's just changed my world.

"Soon after that, at the age of ten or eleven, I was part of Brighton & Hove Albion's para hub which was my first step on the para pathway.

"It was a centre for cerebral palsy, deaf and partially-sighted players to come together and experience football outside of a mainstream environment, where you'd be able to play without any sort of judgement and get more playing time than you normally would.

"Luckily, I went through the regional and national England para talent centres and then when I was 17, I got my first call up to a senior camp and it's been a real whirlwind in the last couple of years.”

Now based in Sheffield where he studies, Heasman looks forward to the regular meet-ups with his squad mates and the other England para teams at St. George’s Park.

"There's no better feeling than to represent my country, and if you'd told a ten-year-old me that I'd have caps for England against my name, I wouldn't believe you,” he added.

"I love it, every camp we have is a massive opportunity and St. George's Park, with its facilities, is amazing.

"It's great to spend time with partially-sighted players who are the best in the country, if not the world and also having that time off the court to learn and develop.”