African sport coaches travel to Alabama to learn about adaptive sports to help disabled athletes

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Sports is a universal language. You don't have to speak the same dialect to understand the goal of winning.

Flavio Cardoso is a coach and sports organizer in Angola. He joins several of these other coaches who lead athletes with disabilities in African countries like Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe.

"It's been very, very good,” Cardoso said.

He's at the Lakeshore Foundation facility in Homewood, eager to learn how he can bring sports like wheelchair rugby or air rifle back to his homeland.

“It will have a huge impact in our lives in our community and everyday society and unity in our people. So, this is what has motivated us more to be here. It’s about caring for one another. It’s about caring for the people who are left behind,” Cardoso said.

Evan Campbell works with Family Health International 360. She called Lakeshore Foundation because their facility caters to disabled people.

"These programs are really important because they're coming from places that don't have the same resources that we do here in the U.S., especially in the sports community,” Campbell said.

Lakeshore employees are explaining to these coaches how they can create a game like Boccia in their country with the resources they have.

“They can go back home and create a ripple effect and share what they've learned with their own communities and inspire there to be more change,” Campbell said.

Coach Flavio is excited to implement change when gets back to Angola.

“Not only looking to the aspect of competitive sport but also the social part of it, the interaction part of it,” he said.