World Amputee Women's Training Camp

The European Amputee Football Federation has announced the first women’s amputee international training camp which was held in Warsaw, Poland from 3rd March to 5th March. This event was held to celebrate world women’s amputee football day. This training camp was a part of the World Amputee Football Federation’s initiative to celebrate women’s day where it encourages all female players all around the world to engage with the sport.

EAFF and WAFF are constantly trying to promote the sport and aim to create camps, leagues, and championships. Amie Donathan from the United States of America and Florencia Nunez from Uruguay were the only two female players who participated with the men’s team during the recent 2022 Amputee Football World Cup which was held in Istanbul, Turkey. Both the female players believed it was one of the breakthroughs in the sport, but it still requires more female players and better engagement in the global media.

Last year, on International Women’s Day, women’s amputee football saw a major event which was held in Haiti. The girls from Haiti invited players from their neighbour country, the Dominican Republic for a friendly fixture. The match was held to create awareness and promote the sport among other players. The match established the indispensable role of women in the sport and both teams from the Caribbean showed emotions and enthusiasm from the kick-off. The match was streamed over social media and it almost created history in terms of viewership as more than three million people streamed the match.

In the same spirit, the Poland Amputee football Association has joined hands with EAFF to create this intra-continental event. The event marks a big day for the EAFF as the hosts are the first country in Europe to form a women’s amputee football team and have joined in with the likes of already established teams like Cameroon, Rwanda, Haiti, and Ghana. The camp was joined by the players of amputee football federations of England, Spain, and Germany.

From the England Amputee Football Association, Chelsea amputee football team player, Shelbee Clarke, who is the senior-most female amputee player in the UK joined the training camp in Warsaw. She has previously played for Peterborough United and the sport witnessed a historic movement when she came off the bench in a thrilling FA Disability Cup Final against Portsmouth and became the first woman to play in the Amputee FA Disability Cup Final. She was also joined in by Annabel Kiki, who is a diversity model and an amputee athlete.

The camp offered a range of training drills, which were focused on passing, dribbling, and shooting. The camp also provided an opportunity for the players to get good game practice and celebrate being a female player in the sphere of amputee football. The camp saw players with great passion and joy and with the onset of amputee football being included in the Krakow- Malopolska 2023 European Games, the event can be a stepping stone for the sport to gain global recognition and maybe in the coming years, women amputee football will be able to attract more players and create and establish major championships and leagues for the players.