June 4, 2021 was a typical workday for Mackenzie Gilmore — until it wasn’t.
Like any other day, Gilmore sat at her desk at Baker Orthotics and Prosthetics in Fort Worth, Texas. Then, Dr. Fred Sorells — president of the faith-based nonprofit Operation Go Quickly — approached her about an opportunity that would eventually change her life.
Do you want to begin coaching amputee soccer?
The position was a perfect fit for Gilmore. She is a lifelong soccer player who coached able-bodied soccer for more than 10 years and committed her career to helping amputees through her work in orthotics and prosthetics. In 2019, she began working with the Adaptive Training Foundation to provide general athletic training for amputees.
“It was like God was preparing me to do this amputee soccer stuff,” Gilmore told The Michigan Daily. “You have nursing clinical knowledge, you have (orthotics and prosthetics) knowledge, now you have adaptive training knowledge. Oh, you have soccer knowledge. Here’s this beautiful opportunity to coach amputee soccer. So I was like, wow, all these opportunities (are) coming together. Yes — let’s do this.”
Two days later, Gilmore took the field to coach her first practice for Lone Star Adaptive Soccer, the start of a journey that has touched the lives of countless amputees and their families. Having only coached able-bodied soccer before, Gilmore had to adapt to the new style of play and different challenges amputees face on the field. She observed the biomechanics of the game and eventually discovered the importance of putting herself in the shoes of her players. Upon doing so, she began walking around practice on a pair of “sticks” — the forearm crutches amputee soccer players use to move around the field — to simulate the movements of the players she coached.
While her growth of the sport most recently reached Ann Arbor for a camp at the University, her work with amputee soccer has brought her around the world. Gilmore has been to Western Africa and Ukraine for camps to spread the sport and to Istanbul, Turkey, for the 2022 Amputee Soccer World Cup.
In 2022, Gilmore and Sorells launched and coached at Camp Possible — an amputee soccer camp hosted around the world — in Sierra Leone. This one in particular was created for women, with more than 40 women from five countries attending. They participated in a week-long series of skill development and scrimmaging while establishing a sense of community with their fellow athletes. Throughout the week, Gilmore saw the women’s confidence increase as players and, more importantly, as people.
“(On) day one, they didn’t even want to really make eye contact. Some of them wouldn’t even come onto the field,” Gilmore said. “Fast forward to the end of the week, we had a whole parade for them. They’re dancing in the streets, making eye contact, making friends.”
In September, Gilmore and Sorells — in collaboration with LimbFit — held a Camp Possible in Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.
“They’ve left everything behind. Some of them have lost their limbs due to the act of war right now,” Gilmore said. “They’re told they’re never (going to) walk again. And for them to come out on the field, learn how to use sticks, learn more about their abilities than their disabilities … it’s been a huge impact.”
In addition to helping facilitate the camp, LimbFit donated a surgical scope to a Ukrainian medical clinic to help doctors complete more efficient surgical techniques and amputations and held surgical education, wound care and provision of prosthesis training. Currently, Shepard’s Foundation — a nonprofit focused on providing relief for Ukrainian refugees — is funding the construction of a medical clinic at Camp Maximum, where Camp Possible was previously held.
Gilmore continues her work to increase opportunities for women in amputee soccer. Until recently, women did not have their own national teams. Now, the first Amputee Soccer Women’s World Cup is scheduled for next year. At the same time, Gilmore — who now serves as the President of the U.S. Amputee Football Federation (USAFF), a non-profit looking to advance the game of amputee soccer for all, is looking to increase the game’s accessibility for women at recreational levels by establishing camps and clinics around the country. USAFF board member Emily Eitzman, who was coached by Gilmore as a kid, organized the October camp in Ann Arbor.
“Women are often not seen as equals in the able-bodied women’s game,” Gilmore said. “You’ve seen how much they’ve fought for equal rights, right? So we’re starting to preach that in the amputee world.”
Gilmore and Robert Maloy — her co-coach with Lone Star Adaptive Elite — began working with the American Adaptive Soccer National Team in early 2022. However, the American team was already well-staffed, meaning Gilmore and Maloy’s coaching expertise was more valuable elsewhere. Haiti’s national team needed additional coaches, and upon the request of Sorells, Gilmore and Maloy enthusiastically stepped into their new roles.
“It was a challenging shift because I’m like, ‘I’m American, should I be coaching for Haiti?’ ” Gilmore said. “This is weird. My players are on the American team, but it was a beautiful unfoldment again, that community that’s around it.”
Gilmore and Maloy helped coach the Haitian national team to a fourth-place finish in the 2022 Adaptive Soccer World Cup in Istanbul. Gilmore, who served as the team’s physiotherapist — helping players through day-to-day pains and injuries — also coached the team’s goalkeepers. She remains proud of the decision to provide her expertise to Haiti.
“It just seemed like Haiti needed my resources more,” Gilmore said. “That’s where my heart was at, to help as many people as we can. Although a hard decision, it panned out well.”
The impact of national play goes well beyond goals, wins and losses for the amputee soccer community. Like most camps, the one at the University featured young children and adults sharing the field with national team players, a highlight of the camp for many.
“It’s like Mia Hamm coming to one of my sessions and embracing me,” Gilmore said, drawing a comparison from the women’s soccer legend to the national team players. “(Hamm) is everything that a leader and a mentor represents, and (she is) here sharing the field with me and looking at me eye to eye.”
The presence of the national team players provided a beacon of hope for many amputees who believed their athletic careers were over, or worse, lacked a sense of greater purpose following their amputation. Further, seeing loved ones thrive and feel a sense of belonging on the field was heartwarming for the parents, spouses and family members of amputees.
At a recent camp in Arlington, Texas, a young amputee received a loving hug and embrace from a national team player, which brought her father to tears.
“It’s really empowering not only for the kiddos but for the parents,” Gilmore said. “(Parents) can see that their kids can have that experience and that joy and those goals. You shoot for the stars.”
Bringing together amputees of all ages and backgrounds, the sport also provides a safe space for amputees to be vulnerable about their experiences. During ‘circle time’ — a staple of every multi-day camp — amputees gather in a circle and upon receiving the ball being passed around, share their names, ages and the story of their amputation.
“(Our camps) are about creating a space and opportunity for them to have friendship, camaraderie, support and resources,” Gilmore said.
Today, Gilmore is still working to grow amputee soccer and create an equal playing field for able-bodied and amputee soccer players alike. MLS franchises Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew have established amputee soccer clinics, and Gilmore hopes that other franchises will soon follow suit. The expansion of amputee soccer, both recreationally and competitively, provides a sense of optimism in the lives of amputees — many of whom may not complete everyday tasks and feats that able-bodied people take for granted again.
“Turning the ‘I cant’s’ into the ‘I cans’ is the why behind the why (for me),” Gilmore said. “A lot of these patients (will) never walk again, may never have a spouse, family, etcetera. So giving them tools and the empowerment right to look someone in the eye and stand up right (is my why).”
In that fateful conversation with Sorells two years ago, Gilmore never could have imagined her work taking her across state, country and continental lines — even to Ann Arbor. But since then, and as she continues to expand the sport globally, her mission remains the same — restoring hope in the lives of those who need it most.