A ladies’s amputee soccer workforce fashioned simply months in the past is about to tackle the Polish nationwide workforce within the first all-women matches of their form within the UK.
Cambridge Metropolis FC Ladies’s Amputee Workforce will face off towards Polish opponents in two on Saturday and Sunday on the membership’s FWD-IP Neighborhood Stadium in Sawston.
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There are not any amputee soccer leagues for girls within the UK so matches and coaching are often blended.
Workforce captain and ex-Amputee Lioness, Izzy Papandronicou, 29, mentioned though the Polish workforce completed third within the Ladies’s Amputee Soccer World Cup in 2024, “we are able to undoubtedly face them”.
Explaining the sport, Papandronicou mentioned: “It is seven-a-side as a substitute of 11 and there are just a few completely different guidelines between the 2. The most effective one is that we do not have the offside rule so we love that one.
“But additionally, your crutches are an extension of your hand, in order that they rely as a handball, in order that makes issues a bit tougher.”
The ladies’s workforce was fashioned simply months in the past [CCFC]
She admitted dealing with as much as the Polish workforce could be formidable.
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“They’re large opponents,” Papandronicou mentioned.
“They got here third within the Ladies’s World Cup in 2024 however we do not see it as one thing we will not face, like they are a problem, however we are able to undoubtedly face them.
“We’re actually excited to step out on the pitch and make historical past right here at Cambridge Metropolis.”
Participant Shelbee Clarke, 31, mentioned soccer had all the time been a “large a part of my life”.
She mentioned discovering different ladies amputees to play with had fashioned a bond that was “stronger than most individuals’s friendships”.
She described her fellow gamers as “little legends” and mentioned the weekend’s matches could be “a historical past second with our ladies”.
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Cambridge Metropolis FC hosted a taster session for would-be amputee footballers and held its inaugural coaching session for girls in Could, which was attended by former gamers from the Amputee Lionesses.
Marni Voak, 19, additionally an ex-Lioness, from Hertfordshire, recalled that session and mentioned “all of our newbies acquired proper into it and loved it”.
“Though Poland this weekend is what issues, all we wish to do from now could be carry on constructing on to that.
“Within the UK… with this being the primary ladies’s amputee soccer match… we wish to get extra folks loving it as a lot as we do.”
Phil Brasher mentioned the membership aimed to be all-inclusive [Tom Jackson/BBC]
Phil Brasher, director of incapacity soccer at Cambridge Metropolis FC, mentioned: “This membership goals to supply soccer for all.
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“It is taken 10 months from the begin to get to the place we are actually – it is a very fast journey and we have gone a good distance with it.
“These ladies have been completely wonderful. That is all I can say.”
Soccer followers from the Polish group within the metropolis are additionally anticipated to attend the matches which occur at 10:00 BST on Saturday and 10:30 on Sunday.
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