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In soccer, scoring a beautiful volley from a corner is hard enough. But when a one-legged player does it against able-bodied players, you have to stand up and applaud.
This is number 13, Nico Calabria. He is jostling in the box to try and get an edge for his team, the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School of Massachusetts. He was born with only one leg and plays with crutches, but that does not hinder his performance in attack.
The athleticism and timing he displays here is no doubt one of the reasons why Nico is a star player in the US National Amputee Soccer Team, as well as being co-captain of his high school side and co-captain of the junior varsity wrestling team.
You may have heard of this guy before. He has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and has been on the radio with National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. At only 13 he was the first ever person to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on crutches (all 19,341 ft of it). He raised some $100,000 doing that. He has also been the subject of an award winning documentary called Nico’s Challenge, which was aired in Cannes.
This teenager is talented, driven and already winning. Who knows what he could do next, for him… after school, obviously.
What is for sure is that if he is attempting another charity challenge you should back him because he will probably see it through. And if you are playing against CCHS make sure you mark him tighter at corners.
