Preposterous Universe

 
Amputee football

I noticed this striking image in this month's University of Chicago Magazine -- a rainy training session for the Sierra Leone Amputee Football Team. Captain M'byo Conteh is in the center.


I have to confess that I didn't even know there was such a team, nor that there was a UK National Amputee Team for them to play against, as explained in this page at Polaris Images. (UofC alumnus Adam Nadel took the award-winning pictures.) The team formed a couple of years ago, in an attempt to look beyond the grinding poverty and constant war that plague the country. The UK tour was organized by charitable organization Action for Children in Conflict.


Amadu Kamara celebrates a goal. The team didn't fare well against their British counterparts, but they were pleasantly surprised by the warmth with which they were greeted on the tour.

~ posted by Sean Carroll at 10:58 AM ~ link ~ ~ ~