FRISCO, Texas– The FC Dallas first team hosted players from the U.S. National Women’s Amputee Team as well as members of the U.S. Amputee Football Federation at one of its training sessions at Toyota Stadium last week.
“It was a great experience to have them come watch first team training and meet and talk with them afterwards,” said FC Dallas head coach Nico Estévez. “They explained to us the mission of their team and I think it’s great for all these women to have the opportunity to have a team where they can play, have fun and challenges themselves.”
The team was in Frisco, Texas for the first-ever National Women’s Amputee Soccer Camp. After its training session and scrimmage, the team attended FC Dallas’ home match against the LA Galaxy before meeting the players at their training session the following day.
“It means so much because they’re able-bodied players and they’re professionals,” said Amie Donathan, a Player Representative and Captain of the U.S. National Women’s Amputee Team. “To have people like that getting behind amputees is really important to the whole community. It’s really amazing and I can’t wait to see how we can grow together as two organizations too.”
Before the creation of a U.S. women’s team, Donathan competed for the men’s team in the 2022 Amputee Football World Cup in Turkey where the U.S. successfully advanced from the Group Stage.
“It means a lot to me because I previously played on the men’s team and just to have community of the same gender is really special,” said Donathan, who’s a native of McKinney, Texas. “It’s cool to see other women being brought in so they can have the same community that I’ve had too.”
“It was really nice to talk with them and see the passion they have for the game,” said FC Dallas defender Sam Junqua. “They had great attitudes and that was super uplifting to see.”
