And what a championships – players demonstrating supreme skill, following the ball by its sound, keeping it close to their feet to maintain control, communicating with their team mates to make the perfect pass and then, as England did against South Korea on Monday evening, pumping it in the back of the net for victory.
It was great to launch our two years to go to the Paralympic Games tour of the nations and regions at this championship in the West Midlands, as it stands as a brilliant example of so much of what we'd like to achieve, in partnership, in the run-up to the Games.
The competition was world-class, the facilities similarly, but what the competition also had was great volunteers, representative of the diversity of the region, not least in terms of visual impairment.
I also had the opportunity to chat to some people and hear how keen they were to put their volunteering experience at this competition towards use in an application to become a Games Maker at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Inspire mark project 'Focus Here' also demonstrated how powerful the connection can be when sport and art combine – with interactive images created across the artistic and sporting pallet.
All in all, it was a great day with loads to build on going forward.
