Deaf Fife teenager, 17, on the challenges overcome to compete for Team GB at Deaflympics

However, for deaf players of the sport, their peripheral vision has to spot a flag the referee raises, alongside blowing their whistle, all while players have to focus on the game itself.

There are other in-game obstacles. Players cannot listen to shouts from fellow teammates with the ball and have to face multiple hurdles with the sport itself, including limited access to interpreters and specialist coaching.

These are all challenges winger and deaf football player Christina Murray, from Kirkcaldy, has taken in her stride - and she will soon embrace playing on the sport’s biggest stage. She first found out about about the Deaflympics during a seminar in Glasgow where deaf sporting athletes and coaches told her about Team GB and the international competition.

The Deaflympics, first held in Paris in 1924, takes place every four years and is an international multi-sport event for deaf athletes. It is the second oldest international multi-sport event in the world.

Ms Murray is the only one in her family who was born profoundly deaf. At the age of two, she had an operation to receive two cochlear implants.

The football fan, who recently turned 17, has been playing the sport for the past ten years and says it has helped her grow in confidence.

After being selected during a trial south of the Border, the Auchmuty High School sixth year was told she will be making the trip to Tokyo in November to play for Team GB in the Deaflympics.

“My journey [playing football] has been good, although there’s been a lot of challenges being a deaf player,” she told The Scotsman.

“Like not hearing players shout, the wind causing problems, players not understanding why I wore a helmet to protect my cochlear implants, finding it difficult to hear coaches’ instructions. But I got there with the help of my teammates.”

Ms Murray started her football journey with Raith Rovers Girls FC when she was only seven. Then, when she was 14, Ms Murray had the opportunity to play for McDermid Ladies and moved to them a year later. Recently, she transferred to Glenrothes Strollers Ladies team in April.

Murray ‘said yes right away’ when asked to join Team GB on Tokyo trip

Ms Murray was only told that she would be competing for the women’s football team at the Deaflympics last month. The trial was in Nottingham where she played a match against Long Eaton United FC Women - a non-deaf team.

Make sure you keep up to date with news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here.

Ms Murray’s team won 3-1 and she scored despite feeling nervous.

She said: “After the game, the coaches said I played well and asked me to join the team to go to Tokyo. I said yes right away. I felt shocked, happy and excited.”

Ms Murray said the Deaflympics were so important as the event allowed “all of us deaf people to get together and do our sports”.

Not only is she the only Scot on the team, but Ms Murray is also one of the youngest players. The youngest set to represent Team GB is 16 overall.

In the future, Ms Murray said she would like to be a deaf football coach and hoped to also work with children.

‘I found being deaf hard when I was younger but realise I still have a talent which is my speed and my football’

“It is difficult being deaf as I miss a lot and I just want to be like everyone else,” she said. “People find it difficult to understand me and I find it difficult to understand some people.

“I found it hard when younger, but realise I still have a talent, which is my speed and my football. Sports is good and everyone should try.

“I was helped at Disability Sports Fife and [coach] Pamela [Robson] encouraged me all the time. She coached and helped me with my special speed and gave me confidence.”

To those who are deaf but want to know more about sports, Christina added: “Be confident, join local sports clubs or even clubs like Disability Sports Fife and reach for the stars. I love it. I'm happy.”

Ms Murray lives at home with her parents, as well as sisters Morgan, 21, and Natalie, 18.

She is the only one who has hearing loss in her family.

Her father, Christian, said: “Along with myself, my wife and girls are so proud of Christina. We have seen the challenges she has met in her life, especially with the social aspect. But to see her thrive on the football field is amazing.”

Grandfather Eric is also the “biggest fan come matchday” of the three girls, who have all played football in their lives.

Christian said: “Christina spent years learning football and athletic techniques and to be told that Team GB wanted her to be part of the team was amazing.

“All those years of being the parent, encouraging your daughter through the tough times, good times, the journeys every parent makes, [the Team GB selection] just made it all explode like a firework of happiness for her.”

Unlike many Olympic athletes, deaf sport in the UK receives no government funding, which means every player must cover the full cost of attending the Deaflympics themselves. This led to Christian creating a fundraiser for Ms Murray’s journey to the Deaflympics.

“The support we received as a family was phenomenal,” he said.

“Christina managed to break the £4,000 mark within three weeks. The support from family, friends and people we don't know was just brilliant.”

Despite already reaching the goal, Christian is continuing to raise money through fundraisers for other athletes and coaches who have not yet met their £4,000 target.

‘Every barrier she breaks down sends a powerful message to future deaf girls’

He said: “On the pitch, Christina can’t rely on shouted instructions or hearing the referee’s whistle. She adapts, communicates visually and gives her all every single time.

“Every match she plays and every barrier she breaks down sends a powerful message to future deaf girls - that they belong in sport too and they can dream big and proudly represent their country.”

Christina Murray will compete on the women’s football team for Team GB at the Deaflympics in Tokyo in November. You can donate to the fundraiser here.