Equality in Soccer
Maulana Surya Tri Utama (Antara Foto, Solo)

There is a saying in sports: No such thing as disabled athletes, but rather there are only athletes: No such thing as disabled coaches, but rather there are only coaches. Everyone is equal to choose and play the sports they like.

In Petukangan Selatan, Jakarta, a 17-year-old disabled boy named Candra Wahyu Aji founded Putra Garuda Muda Soccer School. Depending on crutches when walking as he only has one leg, Candra is able to do soccer coaching.

Candra was born physically normal. When he was 10, he went to a soccer school.  He was even selected to be a member of a national soccer team for under 14. Everything ran smoothly until a match with a Singaporean soccer club in 2012 when one of the club players broke the rule of the game. When chasing the soccer ball, Candra was pushed by the player making his leg slam to a goal post. “My leg bone was fractured. And my leg was wrongly massaged. Then I saw a doctor. He said that I got a bone cancer,” said Candra. He has to get his right leg amputated as the disease damaged his leg bone and threatened his life.

Losing a leg made him lose his self-confidence. After a year of withdrawing himself from social life, he eventually returned to a soccer world, this time he did not only do a soccer coaching but also founded the soccer school named Putra Garuda Muda.

The school was launched soon after Candra was entrusted to provide a soccer coaching to ten boys aged between 10 to 13 in 10 February 2015. Now, the school has 25 trainees. The improved trust in Candra shown by the kids serves as his motivation to be a coach in Putra Garuda Muda.

“Candra has been my friend since we were little. We have been playing soccer together frequently,” said Bisma Tirto Septiawan, 14, a trainee in Putra Garuda Muda. “He used to have a good skill in soccer, and I just believe that he still maintains his soccer skill,” said Ahmad Bagas, 12, also a trainee. Sri Yanti, 29, Ahmad Bagas’s mother, does not consider soccer play as something negative.

Although Candra is only a newcomer to coaching, Candra has led Putra Garuda Muda in winning six trophies in various soccer tournaments. In the future, children trained in the school may become members of Indonesian national team. Hopefully.