OAK CREEK, Wis. — A 16-year-old Oak Creek soccer player born without forearms is turning his love for the game into something bigger than competition.
Ibrahim Elawa, a center midfielder for AC Toros 17U, has spent his life adapting — playing video games, writing, and navigating the world with his feet. When he found soccer, he found his place.
"My feet are basically a replacement to my hands," Elawa smiled.
For as long as he can remember, his feet have done more than just carry him.
Watch: Ibrahim Elawa, 16-year-old Oak Creek soccer player, proves ability goes beyond physical limits
"Almost all my life, I've been playing video games with my feet. Even sometimes I've been like writing with my feet," Elawa said.
That adaptability helped him fit in with other teenagers, but it didn't always come easy.
"Especially when I was younger, I was feeling more left out of normal activities," Elawa shared.
Activities like the playground and most sports were a challenge — until his parents introduced him to soccer.
"Once my parents introduced me to soccer, I started playing soccer, and I realized, 'Okay, I essentially do everything with my feet, so soccer shouldn't be an issue,'" Elawa said.
As he got older, the challenges grew beyond the physical. A weaker core affected his balance and his game.
"I have a 60% weaker core than the average human being so… I improved my core, I improved my balance, and I was back on a normal level," Elawa said.
Then came the search for a club team — one of the hardest parts of his journey.
"After I told them about that I'm missing my forearms, a lot of them just never, never replied back to me. I reached out to, I would say almost 35 clubs," Elawa said.
After being ignored by club after club, one team said yes: the AC Toros.
"They're one of the only clubs that accepted me with open arms," Elawa said.
AC Toros 17U Head Coach Juan Carlos Ossa said the decision was simple.
"We need to give an opportunity to everybody regardless of the situation. If we need to adapt a little bit of things for having everybody into the game that we love, I don't see why not," Ossa said.
For Ibrahim, the opportunity is one he doesn't take for granted. In his eyes, it has never been a disability — just a different ability.
"I'm going to have to live with it for the rest of my life. So that's always made me think, 'Okay, just because I'm not born like the rest, I either can stay like this or I can try to be my best and be the best… And even if it fails, because I had a lot of failures in life, but eventually, something was going to work out, and thank God, the sport – soccer – really worked out for me,'" Elawa said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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