One-Legged Soccer Star Is Your Ultimate Inspiration

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By Sam Laird2014-04-11 01:50:23 UTC

When the World Cup kicks off in Brazil on June 12, the planet's best soccer players will be on display before all of humanity. Superstars such as Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Neymar from Brazil can't be matched in terms of skill, pace or goal-scoring ability at the game's highest level.

But when it comes to inspiring stories, not even the world's biggest stars can match the soccer journey of a 19-year-old named Nico Calabria.

Born with just one leg, Calabria got his start in the sport at an early age. Despite the fact that the beautiful game revolves around the lower limbs, Nico played varsity soccer for his high school and scored a goal that became a viral highlight.

There was also the time when, at 13, he became the first person to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro on crutches, while raising more than $100,000 for charity in the process — but we're here to talk about soccer.

Now Calabria is a member of the USA's national amputee soccer team, and the subject of a mini-documentary (embedded above) that was produced by Powerade and was scheduled to show at the Kicking + Screening Soccer Film Festival in New York on Thursday night.

The film doubles as a branded Powerade spot, but it's inspiring stuff nonetheless, and an amazing window into Calabria's story.

Growing up in Indianapolis, Ind., and Concord, Mass., Calabria says it took years to realize that the active lifestyle he enjoyed as a kid — and excelled at — was anything out of the ordinary.

"I've always been part of a family that's athletic, and had an older brother who was very athletic, so I was just trying fit it and didn't think I was doing anything abnormal," Calabria tells Mashable.

"But over the years I just kind of continually surprised myself with the level I was able to compete at."

Onward and upward

In middle school, Calabria says, he never expected to make his high school's freshman soccer team. But he did. As a freshman, he never expected to make varsity. But he did.

Then, in one varsity game during his senior year, Calabria, while using the crutches that let him move about the field, scored an incredible over-the-head goal off a corner kick that went viral. Here's the play, which has been viewed 1.7 million times since hitting YouTube on Sept. 20, 2012:

That goal caught the attention of Powerade, among other companies. With the Kicking + Screaming festival on Powerade's radar and Nico exemplifying just the type of inspirational stories of real athletes the brand wanted to be associated with, everything came together.

It turned out there was a lot of material to work with. Whenever each of his three kids had a birthday growing up, Calabria's father Carl would interview them on camera. He was also obsessive about recording their daily activities. ("My sister has the most footage because she was the cutest," Nico says.)

A World Cup of his own

NicoCalabria

Nico Calabria goes up for a header while a high school soccer player in Concord, Mass.

After the festival on Thursday, the two-minute version above will become part of a global Powerade ad campaign centered around the World Cup (Powerade's parent company, Coca Cola, is a sponsor of the tournament).

Life will go on for Calabria, too. He graduated high school in 2013 and took a year off from school to intern with SideStix, the company that makes his crutches, and teach gymnastics to kids. In the fall, he starts at Colorado College, where he plans to ask if he can practice with the soccer team to stay sharp.

In November, he'll don the red, white and blue to represent the USA at the Amputee Football World Cup, which takes place in Mexico this year.

"I'm just honored to be a part of this and help tell my story," Nico says. "I guess my advice to people would be that it doesn't really matter what your physical condition is, or what country you're from, or what your gender is — soccer can unite everyone across almost any barrier."