THERE are no kit bags or towels at the edges of a makeshift beachside pitch; just a couple of prostheses and a large plastic bottle of drinking water, but Sierra Leone's national amputees football team is in play A group of single-legged young men, all victims of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war in which thousands lost limbs and other body parts not only to landmines or bullets, but also to hacking by rebel groups, has come together to seek encouragement and hope. As with any other sportsmen, they first of all warm up, laying their crutches on the sand of Freetown's popular Lumley beach so they can stretch and jump around before taking to the pitch. When ready, they pick up their crutches, the whistle is blown and the game begins. Prosthesis are not allowed on the pitch so they play with just one foot each while balancing only on the crutches. But their skills at dribbling, passing and scoring are breathtaking all the same. "We started playing football as a social game after we became envious of other boys with two legs. It was painful to just watch them and not play. It was just after the war in 2001 and we were all at the camp (for amputees and war victims)," said Victor Musa, striker for the Sierra Leone Single Leg Amputees Sports Club. "Now we don't feel that much disabled anymore, we can play football too," said Musa. Now they have turned professional and last year came third, after England and Brazil, at the World Cup single-leg soccer tournament in Brazil. "I plan to continue playing and pray that one day I will play in the Paralympic Games," said team captain Maxwell Fornah, who was shot in the leg in 1998 as he fled home from school after his village in Kambia, northeast of the capital, came under attack during the west African nation's decade-long civil war. "I don't even know if it was a soldier or a rebel who shot me. The only thing I remember was waking up hours later in a Red Cross hospital," he said. Midfielder Mohamed Jalloh, 20, said: "I want to become an international star like Thierry Henry or Samuel Eto'o." The sport has not only provided entertainment, but helped to spread a poignant message of hope. "We are happy that we can get together and encourage each other," said Mohamed Lappia, who stepped on a mine that shattered his leg. Saidu Mansaray, 22, is the team's goalkeeper. He has both his legs but only one active hand. He catches the ball with one hand as the four fingers, save the thumb, of the other hand were chopped off with an axe. "We were at home in Kissy one day when three rebels came and pulled me out, one put my hand against a mango tree and cut me up. Another tried to cut on the wrist, but he did not succeed and gave up, that is why you see this mark here," Mansaray said, showing a scar on his right hand. "Normally I use one hand to catch the ball and this other helps sometimes to deflect the ball." Without sponsorship, the team struggles to find transport fares to attend practice sessions, let alone pay for soccer boots. Most play with threadbare sneakers, but that does not dampen their spirits. They have neither a marked pitch nor permanent nets, but they have a team medic. Oseh Kabiru used to be a nursing aide for a privately-run clinic in Lunsar, about 120 kilometres (73 miles) northeast of Freetown before he was attacked during the war and lost half of his hand. "I massage them and offer first aid treatment. They need help but people neglect them, so I help them voluntarily," said Kabiru, rolling a strip of white fabric cut into strips the size of bandages. The team was put together in 2001 with the help of the non-governmental organisation Action for Children in Conflict. While it may struggle for resources and many of the young men yearn for an opportunity to go back to school as their education was disrupted first by the war and now by high fees, they never run short of supporters. One ardent fan is Memunatu Kamara. She is also a victim of the war. She was shot in her left arm, but she handles the drinking water for the players. "I am always with the team, wherever they go," said Kamara who was shot when she was 15 years old in 1999. As for Liberia's ex-president Charles Taylor, accused of sponsoring the conflict and facing a war crimes trial at a UN-backed court, team captain Fornah says: "If he is found guilty, he should spend the rest of his life in jail."
