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Athlete of the Week: ‘Miracle baby’ living a dream

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Do not blame Mason Abbiate if he has to pinch himself to make sure the last eight months of his life has been real. Up until January of this year, he was just your typical teenager playing club soccer.

Now the 17-year-old senior at Del Norte High is traveling the world as the youngest member of the United States Paralympic National Soccer Team and preparing for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“I haven’t even really had a chance to think about all of it,” said Abbiate, who has a mild case of cerebral palsy as a result of being born nearly four months premature. “It has all been happening so fast. It has been a great opportunity for me to represent my country.”

Diego, Mason’s father, calls him a “miracle baby.” Doctors told Mason’s parents it would be highly unlikely he would ever talk or walk after he entered the world weighing just 2 pounds and in need of multiple surgeries because his body was producing more spinal fluid than it could absorb.

“To go from that to being on the USA soccer home page (online) and seeing your kid’s picture there is pretty amazing,” Diego said.

That’s not all that is amazing. Mason had never stepped foot out of the country before this year. Now he can check off England, Portugal and Canada. He will touch Brazilian soil in Rio de Janeiro for the Paralympics Sept. 7 - 18.

“It is an incredible success story for a kid who loves soccer,” said San Diego Soccer Club Director Brian Quinn, who is responsible for connecting Mason with the USA Paralympic National Team. “He actually loves the game and the fact that he gets to play is great. I wasn’t sure he would qualify.”

In order to be part of the Paralympics, an athlete must have a primary impairment. Mason’s cerebral palsy, although mild in nature, hinders the entire right side of his body. But he has been playing soccer since the age of 6 and many of his coaches didn’t even know he had the disorder.

“We don’t really discuss it or talk to people about him having cerebral palsy,” Diego said. “Most people that have seen him play, even his teammates, were wondering how he qualified. If you go out and watch him play, you cannot tell.”

But Quinn, who has known the Abbiate family for some eight years now, remembered they had mentioned Mason’s condition in passing. He asked more about it, because he has been close with the Paralympic program since 2008 and he knew they were always looking for young players.

Mason was invited to attend a camp at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in January. There were seven other kids from around the country between the ages of 14-19 that were invited. Of those, Mason was the only one asked to train with the national team.

“It was a camp where they were looking for players to play maybe 10 years down the road,” Mason said. “But within one or two days I was on the actual Paralympic team. That week was crazy for me and it all happened so quick from there.”

Mason played with the team in Portugal in March and then it was off to England in June. In England, the team finished in seventh place to qualify for the Paralympics in Brazil. The team recently got back from Toronto, site of the Parapan American Games.

Mason, who is left footed, saw plenty of playing time at the midfielder position (Paralympics plays 7-on-7 soccer). The team did not have the best showing, going 0-3-1.

“It’s definitely different from playing club soccer,” said Mason, who plays on the under-18 team for San Diego Soccer Club. “Playing 11-on-11 one week and then 7-on-7 another week takes some getting used to.”

Mason says the cerebral palsy doesn’t affect his play much.

“I have some challenges on the soccer field, but they are not major,” he said. “I have learned to adapt to my condition.”

Most of the players on the USA Paralympic National Team are in their mid-20s and some are in their mid-30s. Mason, who turned 17 in June, has a chance to be on the team for many years to come.

“If all goes well and as planned, I would love to do this for the rest of my life,” said Mason, who, after his senior year, plans on attending a local community college and studying childhood development in hopes of one day becoming a kindergarten or first-grade teacher.

“It would be awesome.”

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