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Team USA stands for the national anthem before playing England. (Carl Calabria)

STONY BROOK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, March 1, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The American Amputee Soccer Association is adding three people to its board of directors as the organization kicks off an initiative to expand the women’s and youth games in the United States.

All of the AASA’s newest board members — Jason Evans, Paige Palazzolo and Fabian Soldevilla — were part of the U.S. team that competed in last year’s Amputee Soccer World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. Now the trio is turning its attention to growing the game at home.

Jason Evans has represented Team USA at the past two World Cups, and in over 20 international games, after joining the AASA in 2018. Evans, who lives in Austin, Texas, lost part of his leg at 8 years old due to osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. When not playing defense for the U.S. national team, he works at Optiv, a cyber advisory company.

Paige Palazzolo serves as Team USA’s goalkeeper coach after getting involved with the AASA in August 2020. A native of St. James, N.Y., Palazzolo played semi-professional soccer for Queensboro FC, was rostered as a reserve player for the professional club Gotham FC and is a goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s futsal team. She is a licensed master social worker in the Connetquot Central School District, on Long Island, and has been coaching soccer for the past decade in the New York City metropolitan area.

Fabian Soldevilla joined the AASA soon after he started coaching for the Texas-based Lone Star Adaptive Soccer Association in 2021. A certified prosthetist/orthotist from Dallas, Soldevilla took on an assistant coaching job with the U.S. amputee soccer team as it prepared for last year’s World Cup.

“I enjoy providing a space and community for amputees to continue or to begin playing the beautiful sport of soccer,” he said. “Amputee soccer provides so much value in both a recreational and competitive sense. As a prosthetist, I am passionate about helping others regain their mobility through treatment. Coaching amputee soccer allows me to do the same, but through the love of the game.”

The AASA’s full board of directors can be found on its website. Having made a statement at the World Cup, the organization is now focused on spreading interest in, and awareness of, amputee soccer in the U.S. This year, the AASA launched an initiative to expand the women’s and youth games and to continue developing its regional teams.

Codified in 1980 by Seattle native Don Bennett, amputee soccer is played on a ¾-size pitch with seven players. Field players use forearm crutches and play the ball with only one leg. Goalkeepers use only one arm.

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The AASA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Please direct sponsorship inquiries to info@usampsoccer.org. Donations are welcome at www.usampsoccer.org/donate. Learn more about us at www.usampsoccer.org.

Eric Lamberg
American Amputee Soccer Association
+1 631-213-7234
info@usampsoccer.org
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