Shafaq News/ Ever since he remembered, Ahmed Sharif had dreamed of becoming a soccer player, until a bomb exploded in his hometown of Baghdad, Iraq in 2004, during the US invasion of the country. He was left without sight and a right hand at the age of 7 years.
“I lost my hope and dream of playing football again,” Sharif recalled.
Soon after, he was brought to the United States through a charity called the Global Medical Relief Fund (GMRF), a non-profit organization on Staten Island that provides medical treatment, transportation, and housing in the United States for children around the world. and supports rehabilitation. Those who have suffered from the violence of war, natural disasters, or have little or no access to medical resources.
Over the years, Sharif said he found himself back and forth between Baghdad and Staten Island for medical treatment, seeing more than 20 doctors. His third visit to Staten Island—as a teenager—became his last after GMRF founder Alyssa Montanti and a native Staten Islander dropped Sharif’s case and became his legal guardian in 2012.
“When he came back at the age of 9, he started playing a little keyboard that I had. When he came back at 15, I had a big keyboard, and before you knew it, I heard him playing tunes. I’m like ‘Oh my God, Ahmed!’ As it was,” recalled Montanti, whose organization has helped more than 500 children in 56 war-torn countries over the past 25 years.
Growing up during Sharif’s visits to the United States, Montanti said that she didn’t want him to go back and forth, so she asked her mother if she could stay with him, and she agreed.
“He is my hero. He is my inspiration. He is an incredible, incredible musician. He is like my son,” said Montanti. “We drink coffee together every morning, and he always has a smile on his face. “
Sharif began living with Montanti in Arochar and as a teenager attended Curtis High School, where he played piano, trumpet and drums in the school’s jazz band. Now, Sharif plays in a band with Montanti and other musicians at local venues in Staten Island.
“I had no future and no life for me in Iraq,” recalls Sharif, now 25. He still lives in Arochar and said that he keeps in touch with his parents and siblings.
After graduating from Curtis, Sharif continued to play music and did internships, working towards becoming a music and English teacher.
That was until he read online information about US Blind Soccer in 2019.
He recalled wondering at the time, “Is this my dream coming back to me?”
Immediately, he emailed Kevin Broussard, director of finance for the US Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) and three-time world champion blind athlete, about his love of football and dreams of playing it again.
“Broussard welcomes me to the game,” Sharif said.
USABA began producing its first soccer programming in 2018.
In 2019, Sharif was taken by USAABA to San Diego, California, where he traveled solo for his first blind football camp.
“Ahmed first attended USABA Blind Soccer Camp in San Diego in 2019, and since that time has shown a steady improvement in his skills and field awareness,” Broussard said. “His passion for the sport is evident, and he has served as an excellent advocate for growing the sport, particularly in the New York City area.”
In the summer of 2021, Sharif was invited to another football camp in Ohio.
Most recently, this past July, Sharif attended soccer camp in Charlotte, NC, where he, along with other blind athletes and coaches, immersed himself in three full days of training, with two on-field sessions each day. .
“When we don’t have the ball we have to shout the word ‘voy’ to communicate with the other players, so we don’t run into each other,” Sharif said. “It’s a new thing. It’s different from the football I’ve seen, but it’s still football.”
Coaching a mix of newcomers and experienced athletes throughout training camps is an important step in identifying talented athletes for the first USA Blind Soccer national team to be named for the USABA in October 2022. The first international competition for the inaugural team will be at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Central American Championships this December in Guatemala.
Blind soccer is an eye-opening adaptation to the world’s most popular sport, which was first introduced at the Athens 2004 Paralympics. The sport is now played in over 60 countries, and is one of the fastest growing Paralympic sports in the world.
USABA, a member of IBSA (which has governed blind soccer since 1996), received the highest level of certification from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in 2012, becoming the national governing body for the Paralympic sport for the blind. soccer.
“USABA has provided life-changing opportunities for thousands of Americans who are blind and visually impaired,” Broussard said. “USABA not only provides programs and programs to keep participants physically fit and healthy, but participants gain a greater sense of community and camaraderie through their experience.”
USABA LA will make its Paralympic debut as the host nation of blind soccer at the 2028 Paralympic Games.
(State Island)