Nicolai Calabria ’18 has achieved a lot in his time as an athlete. He was the U.S. Team Captain in 2014, 2018, and 2022 for the Amputee Soccer World Cup. He is also the leading goal scorer for Team USA with 33 goals in 42 international appearances. He was named MVP of the 2022 World Cup Qualifying tournament between USA, Haiti, Mexico, El Salvador, and Costa Rica and is the Director and Founder of the New England Revolution Amputee Soccer Club. And off the soccer field, he was the first person to ever summit the 19,331-foot peak of Mount Kilimanjaro on crutches.
To say he is accomplished is an understatement. And now, Calabria works to support and inspire the next generation of amputee athletes through his job as Lead Educator at the Bionic Project.
“We seek to dismantle disability bias through education, story, and sport,” says Calabria. “I develop curriculum, presentations, and adaptive sports clinics that build empathy and foster connection.”
The Bionic Project is leading the way in building a new model of disability education, with the goal of eliminating disability bias in sport. The company aims to create a more inclusive world for everyone, regardless of physical ability.
“When we look at bias reduction rates across different categories, disability bias remains steady which indicates more work needs to be done in this space,” Calabria says. “It is both a challenge and a privilege to be pushed to learn new things in the nonprofit world.”
When asked what he likes most about his job, Calabria notes that the highlights come in “working with young people and seeing children have positive learning experiences with the disabled community.”
When it comes to success off the field, Calabria points to the foundation he received at CC. He states that “the focus of the Block Plan and entrepreneurial spirit of the school helped prepare me to step into unknown territory.”
Outside of his work with the Bionic Project, Calabria has big goals for his future. “I want to develop a professional amputee soccer league in the United States,” he says. “And win the World Cup for Team USA.”