On the court, five teammates find limitless freedom in customized wheelchairs in the battle to win the World Cup.
Off the court, they fight for their lives, for their athletic careers, and for equality in a world built for others.
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Played by disabled athletes in customized wheelchairs, they control the chair with adaptive controllers, maneuver the ball using a steel cage, and spin using centripetal force to pound the ball into the goal.
The film follows the U.S. Power Soccer National Team’s evolution from a poorly funded amateur team in 2021, to a professional team absorbed and funded by the U.S. Soccer Federation. With full resources the team’s transformation is unmistakable in their drive to re-capture the 2023 World Cup title.
Over two years, the journeys of five main characters intersect on the court as they accelerate their fight for equality and recognition. Off the court they fall in love, face down threats to their health and athletic careers, and confront a world designed for the non-disabled.
This film holds the stories of life, death, love, triumph and defeat. It is an honest portrait of an invisible class of elite athletes that will forever transform your view of physical disability.
This could be Natalie Russo’s final World Cup and the end of a nearly 25-year career. Often referred to as “power soccer royalty,” her family helped establish the sport in the Midwest in 2003. Natalie and her partner Jordan fall in love, get married, and buy a house together. They confront the daily challenges of navigating an inaccessible world with resilience and humor.
Known as “The Surgeon,” Jordan is a fierce competitor and an MVP on the U.S. Power Soccer National Team. Off the court, Jordan and his partner Natalie share a life defined by love, resilience, and advocacy. Together, they push the boundaries of a world built for the non-disabled.
Zach is the player you hate when you first meet—narcissistic, sarcastic, and crass–but are always grateful to have on your side. Beneath these rough edges lies a deep love for his friends and community, and a relentless drive to fight for disability rights. Zach’s relationship with sports is complex; he exists in a gray area—too weak for wheelchair basketball, yet not disabled enough for power soccer, a tension that jeopardizes his spot on the national team.
Drew Cunningham plays a beat-em-up style of power soccer defined by grit and determination. Living with a progressive muscular disease, he faces health crises that threaten his independence and his ability to compete on the national team. As a college student in Boulder, CO Drew straddles two conflicting worlds–one defined by his strength on the court and the other by the perils to his health–as he matures into the young adult he wants to be.
Riley is one of the best power soccer athletes in the world. Off the court he is a mechanical engineer designing complex manufacturing systems. When his idol retires from the national team, Riley reluctantly inherits a job that he never asked for. As tension builds between him and his teammates, his leadership falters under the weight of expectation. With time quickly running out, Riley must discover the kind of Captain he needs to be to lead a winning team to gold.
Andrew Hida is a documentary director, editor, and cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. His work is recognizable by the intimacy in his storytelling that draws out the deeply personal and emotional complexities that make us human. Formal training in photojournalism shapes Hida’s approach to non-fiction storytelling, while his background in life sciences and conservation ecology inspires the projects he pursues.
Jessey Dearing is a Seattle-based cinematographer, director of photography and film editor. He regularly contributes to projects and stories for The New York Times and Vice News Tonight, and was a director of photography for National Geographic’s flagship series Explorer. He was a lead DP in launching Upstanders, a multi-season documentary series produced by Starbucks.
Laura Carriker has worked to tell intimate stories of female athletes exclusively since 2018. As a female director, she feels passionate about creating a more equal playing field for female athletes in the media. Carriker films in a manner that is both gentle and discreet, creating comfort and intimacy, respect and collaboration with all of the women whose stories she tells.
Sebastian Lletget is a first generation Argentinian-American soccer player, investor and philanthropist, currently playing as a midfielder for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. After signing his first big contract, Sebastian made his first investment in PATH water in 2019. In 2020, Sebastian was named the first official ambassador of the United States Power Soccer Association, helping to bring more awareness to the sport and its athletes. More than an athlete, he is humble, determined, and real.
