U.S. Paralympic soccer team connects training camp with awareness
A group of guys representing the red, white and blue have taken up residence in Rome this week. And with them come a message of awareness and the story of each one’s journey.
The U.S. Paralympic National Soccer Team held the fifth day of its training at Darlington’s soccer fields Thursday as part of the final preparations before the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in September.
The morning heat already beating down on them, the 14 men went through their first training session of the day. While here, the team also wants to bring the message of what the Paralympic team is and what they can do.
“There are markets where this team is just not visible,” National Team head coach Stuart Sharp said. “We are able to build our visibility in Georgia as a whole, where we can play (local) coaches, and the coaches can spread the word about the club. And that’s exactly what we want.”
According to the U.S. Soccer website, any player who has had a stroke, has Cerebral Palsy or has had a traumatic or acquired brain injury can qualify for the team.
The team played an exhibition match earlier this week against Darlington Soccer Academy coaches, alumni and friends, and another friendly is scheduled for this afternoon.
After past years training in California and Florida, Sharp, who lives in Atlanta, said the team wanted to spread their message to more places. It found Georgia to be one of those new places, and Darlington provided the proper facilities.
But Georgia’s punishing heat has come in handy, preparing the national team for the sweltering humidity that could affect those selected in Rio in two months. As Sharp points out, only two other nations in the competition are training in tropical climates, giving the Americans an advantage.
“It’s an advantage because teams in the UK and Europe are training in temperatures around the 50s and the 60s, and move to a place much warmer,” Sharp said. “Meanwhile, we are actually going to transition to a colder environment.”
One person already accustomed to Georgia weather is Steven Bohlemann, an Atlanta resident who recently graduated from Georgia Tech. His story of how he got on the team, like many of his teammates, is strange but inspiring.
Bohlemann had played soccer since he was very young but experienced a life-changing moment in July 2013, when a cyclist ran into him while he was jogging in Charleston, South Carolina.
He fractured his skull and his spine, seemingly setting his career back miles.
Eventually, after battling through personal demons, Bohlemann eventually regained his motor skills and began playing soccer again. He learned about the National Paralympic Team this January and is now training for a possible spot in Rio.
“I always say my worst life experience opened up the door for my best life experience,” Bohlemann said. “For me playing soccer growing up, there was no bigger goal than representing my country. In some weird roundabout way, I’m having that privilege.”
Fellow midfielder Adam Bellou is the longest tenured player on the team. He was introduced to the team when he was only 14 years old, and since then he has been to 27 countries and too many games to count. And just like Bohlemann, he takes deep pride in the experience of representing the country.
Among the eight teams in the paralympic games, the U.S. is the lowest ranked and therefore large underdogs. Sharp said the plan is currently to play an aggressive game based on defense and countering, hoping to lure opponents into traps.
The team will move its training to Oglethorpe University in Atlanta on Tuesday, but will ultimately return to Darlington in the beginning of August. Wherever the team goes, Sharp hopes a message is received.
“There are very few people out there who know about the paralympic team, and there’s very few who understand it,” Sharp said. “There are probably more than 800,000 players out there who don’t know the opportunity is there to play. And if you’ve had a stroke, brain injury or cerebral palsy, we want to spread the message that you can make the National Team.”