Happy holidays from Freetown: photos

Donate to the LEONE STARS documentary

If you wish to donate to the LEONE STARS documentary, please click on the PayPal link to begin the process. A portion of all moneys raised will go directly to the amputee soccer players of Sierra Leone:

Leone Stars gearing up for World Amputee Football Championships

Sierra Leone's Single Leg Amputee Sports Club (SLASC) is fundraising so they can return to the World Amputee Football Championships taking place in Crespo, Argentina from October 14– 26.

If they raise the needed funds for flights and accomodations, the Leone Stars will send 16 amputee players and four staff, including coaches. To help The SLASC please contact team spokesman Albert Mustapha.

Some 18 teams, including three first-time competitors, will compete for top honors in the world tournament. The Leone Stars, who are drawn from the SLASC are placed in Group D alongside Russia, England and Angola.

World Cup 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the sport of amputee football (soccer), started in 1980 by Don Bennett of Seattle, Washington, USA. The tournament is organized by the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF) and Federation of Amputees in Argentina which has invited SLASC to participate. This will be the fourth world amputee football championship that SLASC will compete in.

The players have been feverishly practicing on the beaches of Freetown as seen in these photos.

Part of the proceeds of the online fundraiser to support a documentary about the team will go to the team. To donate, please visit Kickstarter.com.

LEONE STARS launches Kickstarter.com campaign

The LEONE STARS documentary team has launched a fundraising campaign at Kickstarter.com to raise $20,000 to shoot a film about the amputee soccer team of Sierra Leone. Donate anywhere from $5 and $5,000 and receive books, t-shirts, photos and CDs in return.

This project has attracted some of the top film, music and photography talents in Canada and the United States: K'NAAN who has contributed his song, "Fire in Freetown," to this trailer you see; Hot Docs board member WALTER FORSYTH who produced the viral hit How to Be Alone and the feature doc CUBERS; New York photographer FIONA ABOUD, and journalist/filmmaker ALLAN TONG.

For full details, please visit www.kickstarter.com.

The Leone Stars play in Spain

The Leone Stars played in Spain last month, thanks to a generous donation from a cell phone company.

AllAfrica.com reports:

One of the leading mobile phone giants in the country, Africell, continues their relentless support towards football in the country with the donation of US$6,000 to the Single Leg Amputee Sports Club, ahead of their international trip to Spain.

Before handing over the cheque which equivalent to Le32.7 million, Africell's head of event and sponsorship, Arthur Kallon said supporting the single leg football team is no a difficult assignment for them as they've done several times in the past. He said: "In Africell we are committed in reaching our target, if we are supporting the two legged football in the country we see no reason why we should not support the single legged. This is not the first and will not be the end of our commitment to supporting sports in the country. We will continue to do more."

Photo by Fiona Aboud

President of the Amputee Sports Club, who also doubles as the team's goalkeeper, Jabati Mambu said he was pleased with the response from Africell, adding that this was not the first time the company has come to their aid.

He said: "Since we started this club in 2001, Africell has been our lead supporter. We thank them for this and will continue to pay them back, which is our obligation."According to Mambu, despite getting less support from Sierra Leoneans, the team has achieved and will continue to achieve lots of excellence internationally.

Before their departure yesterday with a 14-man delegation, the team's public relations officer, Albert Mustapha said their trip to Spain came after they received an invitation from three different sporting bodies from the European nation, including One Goal Association, NGO Esport Solidari International in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Sports and other sporting associations in that country.

He said during their stay, the team will participate in a tour of promotion for peace and sports in Barcelona, Burgos and Cadiz cities.

demo footage by Associate Producer, Fiona Aboud

Some sample footage of the Leone Stars amputee football (soccer) club, shot in 2007 by associate producer and New York photographer, Fiona Aboud