US women's amputee soccer team proves disability is no barrier to greatness

These amputees embody strength, proving that resilience can overcome any obstacle. Photos: Instagram/Usamputeesoccer_women

The coach puts cones down and had all of the players go through line drills to start practice. The goalies went off by themselves to do their own separate warmup drills. Then everyone darted together to midfield and a scrimmage broke out until the end of practice.

It was like a thousand other routine soccer practices anywhere in the world. And yet, it wasn’t.

There was one big difference. Every single one of the players in this practice had just one leg, or one arm.

The United States National Women’s Amputee Soccer team was in Colombia to play in the inaugural Women’s Amputee World Cup, which ended on Nov 11.

With the right guidance, amputees can overcome challenges and unlock their full potential. Photos: Instagram/Usamputeesoccer_womenAmputee soccer is played on a smaller-than-regulation, 60mx40m field, with seven players on each team, rather than 11. All of the field players have just one leg and are on crutches, but no players use prosthetic legs, at least on the US team. All of the goalkeepers on the roster are upper-extremity amputees.

“The goal is gold,” head coach Paige Palazzolo said. “And there’s no other goal besides winning gold. I truly believe in these women. They can do it.”

Palazzolo is in her third year with the American Amputee Soccer Association (AASA) and is the goalkeeper coach for the men’s team. She is also a coach at the Long Island Soccer Club, the Long Island Goalkeeper Academy, and the Long Island Goalkeeper Academy in New York in the US.

Futsal is a soccer-based game, played on an indoor court with five players on a team.

Ashley Hammond, head coach of the girls soccer team in Montclair High School in New Jersey has a special connection to the team and arranged its use of Montclair’s Fortunato Field for the pre-World Cup workout.

“We’re so thankful for Ashley,” Palazzolo said.

“Soccer is an expensive sport, and he gets us these facilities so we don’t have to worry about permits and field costs. He just finds a way. Teams like ours and the work that goes into running them mean so much to him because of his son and the work that Shea does too.

“Ashley knows how important it is for us to have a space to play and to do what we need to do in order to accomplish our goal. He makes it happen for us and we’re frequently in New Jersey because of him.”

Strength in unity

The AASA is a non-profit organisation, and no one involved in the organisation is paid. Volunteers work day and night to make sure that there are resources, mainly donations and grants, so that the team can operate.

Because of all of the work that it takes to run the national team, Hammond’s goal is to make that process as seamless as possible.

“I see greatness in disability soccer programming,” Hammond said. “I make sure to help out whenever and wherever I can. What I do is just a tiny part of a much bigger and greater story.”

These women refuse to let disability dampen their spirits as they reach for greatness.

The US team’s first camp was held last May when just four players attended, and then last September it was able to field its first-ever competitive roster made up of just seven field players, and one goalie.

The US team made history last September when it played Poland in the first-ever official international women’s amputee game.

Astonishingly, most of the roster had never played on a competitive soccer team before joining the national team. Yet every single player has still pushed forward to show that they are athletes worthy of wide recognition.

“Some of them are soccer players, and some of them have never touched a ball in their life,” Palazzolo said.

“I coach very high futsal levels and soccer levels back on Long Island, but when I first started coaching this team, I had to go back to my youth soccer lens again, because I forgot what that was like to learn the game for the first time. We’ve had to turn them into athletes, as opposed to just people, and it’s taken a lot of work.

“The work ethic, dedication, getting into an athlete mindset, it all comes together. We’ve picked up regular people and turned them into soccer players. It’s proof that if you have the right people working, you can turn anybody into a soccer player and people can do anything that they want to do.”Defying limits

The first-ever amputee World Cup took place in 2022, and just two women players participated in the whole tournament. One of those women was Amie Donathan, who is now a mainstay on the women’s team.

It’s been an incredible journey for Donathan to see what amputee soccer has become, compared to when she first started.

“It means the world to me, because ever since I started playing four years ago, I’ve dreamt of playing on a national women’s team,” Donathan said.

“I’m so grateful that I’m able to witness other women step up and be as passionate as me in the sport that I love. I’m very excited to see everyone fight for the World Cup and for the women’s side of the sport to explode at the same time. The main reason I play is so that I can be someone that a little girl sees and says, ‘I can do whatever I dream of,’ and to see that in action is truly special.”

And for Palazzolo, it’s been a journey of fulfillment to see the amputee community rise together towards something great.

“What’s so fulfilling is that they’re on this journey together and they’ve developed a community from it,” Palazzolo said.

“These ladies from all over the country, and some of them have never even met another amputee. We don’t treat them as handicapped or disabled. We treat them as soccer players. So that’s the fulfilling part for me, where they just get a place to just be people.” – Tribune News Service