For some, being having a disability may be a disadvantage, but Rwandan Amputee football professional players Fidele Gatete and Jean-Paul Ntambara believe that there’s always ability inside their disabilities.
Gatete and Ntambara are teammates at Turkish Amputee Football League side Pendik Belediyesi.
Since they embarked on professional careers in Turkey, the duos mindset has significantly changed as they see themselves able to achieve their goals on and off the pitch despite their disability.
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"What I can tell Rwandans is to support us, support people with disabilities in their games so that they can represent Rwanda well and become professional players near future,” Gatete said in an interview with Weekend Sport.
Gatete urged people with disabilities to strive for self-reliance, since, unlike previously, there is political will where they are facilitated to earn a living by themselves rather than ‘being a burden’ to the community.
Gatete, who is the captain of the national Amputee Football team, commends the government, through the Ministry of Sports, for the role it plays in supporting and promoted sports in general and Amputee Football in particular before encouraging fellow people with disabilities to embrace sports as a career.
"I encourage people with disabilities to love sports, even those who don&039;t play, come and support their friends because people with disabilities are able too. Now we can earn a living and do what we were not capable of doing before because here they take us as professional players who play in a big league,” he said.
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Disability is not inability
Gatete’s teammate Ntambara says that, after embarking on a professional career, his focus now turns to not only inspire everyone with his talent but to also champion the awareness that ‘disability is not inability’ based on his experience as an Amputee footballer and a person with disability.
. No matter what you go through, or what situation you're in, you continue to push through. Competing, working hard, and not making an excuse will make anyone great,” Ntambara said.
Ntambara called everyone to pay a role in raising awareness about inclusiveness of persons with disabilities in the community and end discrimination against them.
"We encourage everyone to embrace the powerful and inclusive message that "disability does not mean inability. My achievements have been made possible and are an example of what people like me can achieve,” he said.
"Disability is not inability; as long as you have functioning brain, you will always make it. What it all requires is determination, working hard, and believing in yourself," he added.
The opportunity to play for a professional team is a reward of the impressive performance the duo, alongside their teammate Patrick Imanirutabyose, showed at different competitions in the domestic league and Cecafa tournament held in Tanzania which Rwanda won.
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Ntambara testifies that he has found comfort and confidence in Amputee Football before he realized that it would become his profession and a source of living.
"When I became an amputee player, football was the one that helped me gain confidence. Every time I play, I get happy. I also get excited whenever we have a tournament or even if we have practice.”
Amputee Football is played with seven players on each team, six outfield players, and one goalkeeper.
Outfield players use crutches and play without their prostheses. Players may have two hands but only one leg, whereas goalkeepers may have both feet but only one hand while players may not use crutches to advance, control, or block the ball.
The pitch measures a maximum of 70 by 60 meters. The dimensions of the goalposts are 2.2 meters maximum (height) by 5.0 meters maximum (width) by 1.0 meters (depth).
The game was introduced in Rwanda in 2015. It is played in eight districts countrywide involving 80 players.