Finding a Way to Play: How Stuart Sharp and the US Cerebral Palsy National Team Are Breaking Barriers in Soccer | OneFootball

The United States cerebral palsy men’s national team recently took home the 2025 Copa América, its first major international trophy. We were able to catch up with CP MNT head coach Stuart Sharp — who has been in charge of the program since 2014 and has been the senior technical director of the US extended national team programs since 2022 — to discuss the ins and outs of running one of U.S. Soccer’s most inspiring programs.

When Urban Pitch spoke with Stuart Sharp, it was on the eve of a big moment. The United States men’s cerebral palsy national team was preparing to play in the Copa América final, held in the exclusive seaside city of Punta del Este, Uruguay. The challenge ahead was daunting — a rematch against Argentina, who had held the Americans to a 1-1 draw earlier in the tournament. But Sharp’s team rose to the occasion, taking the game to the Argentines and coming away with a historic 4-1 victory.

A brace from Jonah Meyer-Crothers and goals from Jacob Crumbley and John Sullivan sealed the team’s first major trophy of the modern International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football era and its second regional championship in the program’s 33-year history. To top it off, the CP MNT finished the year undefeated with a 6-0-1 record — another first for the program.

It’s been a month of celebration for U.S. Soccer: the senior men’s national team appears back on track, the U-20s made a strong quarterfinal run at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile, and now the cerebral palsy national team adds a Copa América title to the growing list of achievements.

In our conversation, Sharp reflected on his journey from Scotland to U.S. Soccer, the complexities of building a team made up of players from all walks of life, and how they’re united by a shared determination not to let their condition define or limit their pursuit of competition and excellence.

Urban Pitch: Going into the Copa América, what were the team’s expectations, and how do you assess the journey to the final?

Stuart Sharp: I’d probably start by looking back to the beginning of our season. About six months ago, as we began preparing for the tournament, we faced several major challenges with our player pool. A number of key players were unavailable — our world goalkeeper of the year couldn’t make it, our starting midfielder and striker were out, and our captain was recovering from an ACL injury. So, we knew we had some big tasks ahead of us.

Rather than view those absences as setbacks, we approached them as opportunities. That mindset really reflects the players themselves — every one of them has faced and overcome barriers in their lives, whether from cerebral palsy, a stroke, or a traumatic brain injury. They’re used to adversity. That resilience defines who they are.

Heading into our final training camp about a month before the tournament, things began to click. The group started to connect in a way that made us believe, you know what — this could be our year. Then, just as we arrived in Uruguay, Venezuela withdrew from the competition, which forced us to adapt again. Our kickoff time changed, and suddenly we were opening against the host nation — a bit of an unknown. But we stayed calm, focused on what we could control, and approached it like any other challenge. We played well, started with a win, and built momentum from there.

Our mantra throughout was simple: be competitive, stay focused on gold, but have fun doing it. About nine months ago, I felt the mood in camp had gotten a bit too serious. Of course, we take the game seriously — but we also wanted to bring joy back to the way we play. That balance of focus and fun became central to our success.

Chris Seto/US Soccer

How would you evaluate the overall organization of the tournament? Did it meet your expectations, and were you satisfied with the facilities and support provided to the team?

First of all, the hotel and accommodations have been excellent. We have our own little compound here, and our approach — no matter where we travel — is to make it feel like home. We’ve even started calling this one Soccer House Uruguay. We’ve personalized it with posters and flags in our meeting rooms and high-performance areas, so it really feels like ours.

Beyond that, everything has been smooth: the accommodation, the food, the transportation — we’ve had no complaints. The local community has been incredibly welcoming, showing genuine interest in the history of our program and in getting to know the players. Even the Uruguay team, despite a tough loss against us, expressed appreciation for the respectful way we approached the game. We played hard, as expected, and they welcomed that. After the match, we thanked them for hosting us, took some photos, and hope to continue supporting their program in the future.

In a program like this, working with players who have disabilities or have suffered strokes, the medical staff must be crucial. Could you describe how closely you work with them for each player, and how you balance individual needs with your overall team goals? Would you say their role is even more important here than in traditional soccer programs?

To start, for your readers, none of our players have cognitive disabilities. In fact, many of them are highly accomplished off the field — we have PhDs in microbiology, law students, professionals in high-ranking finance roles, and numerous players with master’s degrees. On the soccer side, some have competed at the (NCAA) Division I and Division II levels, so their athletic and intellectual abilities are both strong.

For players who have had a traumatic brain injury, like several of our “wounded warriors” who served in Afghanistan, there can be physical challenges such as balance issues or ataxia. Players born with cerebral palsy or those who have experienced strokes have different manifestations: they might walk slightly off their heel or have tightness or limited movement in an arm, which could appear as a weaker handshake or reduced use of that limb.

This is where our medical staff plays a critical role. They focus on stretching, prehab, and rehab, ensuring that players are strengthening the right muscles and moving correctly. Every game and training session is supported by careful attention to recovery and injury prevention. We’re fortunate at U.S. Soccer to have brilliant physical therapists, athletic trainers, and doctors who work closely with the team to make sure every player is prepared and performing at their best.

Finding a Path

Chris Seto/US Soccer

What drew you to coaching in this space? How did your journey in Scotland lead you to U.S. Soccer, and what made you decide to take that step to move countries and work here? How has the journey been so far?

I played youth professional soccer with Clydebank and Queen’s Park, so coaching was always part of my DNA. After university, I had the opportunity to coach youth soccer and then joined the Scottish Football Association, where I spent eight years as their National Development Manager.

After that, I took a step away from soccer and moved to the U.S. to work with a nonprofit focused on conflict resolution through sport. That work took me to Jordan, Haiti, and Russia, helping communities use sport to resolve conflicts. During this time, I also served as a technical delegate for London 2012.

It was there, over a prawn sandwich in a lounge, that I met two U.S. Soccer board members. We started talking, and I shared my background and experience. Eighteen months later, I received a call: they were creating an inaugural position in a unique area of the game and asked if I would consider it.

I hesitated at first — I had stepped away from soccer — but the opportunity was too special to pass up. The challenge of helping U.S. Soccer grow and improve its rankings was something I couldn’t resist. So in 2014, I returned to the sport. Since then, I’ve been privileged not only to coach the CP men’s national team but also to oversee a department of nine other national teams.

Focusing just on the CP MNT, how does the process of scouting, recruiting, and managing resources work? Is identifying and bringing in players as challenging as it sounds, or is it smoother than you expected?

On the scouting side, it’s a bit of a unique challenge. To make the national team, a player needs to be competing in mainstream soccer — club or university level. If someone only plays disability soccer, they’re usually not at a high enough level to compete nationally. That means our challenge is finding players who have had a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, or were born with cerebral palsy and are already playing mainstream soccer. I often describe it as trying to find a needle in a haystack when you don’t even know what the haystack looks like.

One of our biggest tools — and I say this unapologetically — is social media. Articles like this one will reach the right people. I guarantee that somewhere, a mother, grandfather, cousin, or even the player themselves will read it and say, “I didn’t know this team existed!” That’s how we still find a lot of our players. Some have even discovered the team while buying tickets for a women’s national team game online. Others have found us through social media posts or written press.

We also actively search for stories about players who have recovered from strokes or brain injuries and are playing high school or college soccer, reaching out to them directly. It’s not easy — there are no high-level CP soccer clubs in the U.S., only recreational programs. That’s an area we hope to develop and improve in the future.

Within U.S. Soccer, we’ve recently hired a talent identification manager for my department, whose work will focus heavily on this team. In the coming years, our scouting process will become much more sophisticated. For now, it’s a combination of word of mouth, press coverage, social media, and good old Google searches that helps us build the national team — and I won’t hide from that, because it’s the reality that works.

From Unique Experiences, a Team is Born

Given the unique experiences of your players — from strokes to combat injuries — how does that shared background affect team camaraderie? When you bring in new players, how do you integrate them and maintain that strong bond within the squad?

Our locker room is really unique. Some players have been together for years, while others are new, but the journey they share is incredibly fulfilling. One key thing to remember is that playing for this team is not their full-time job. They make huge sacrifices — taking time away from work, studies, and family. Right now, I’ve got one player in the middle of university exams and another taking work calls from his marketing job. Many are even on unpaid leave to be here. That level of commitment is different from most other national teams, where players typically leave their clubs for international duty and then return.

It’s also an incredibly diverse group. We have veterans who have served in war, players who’ve suffered strokes, those who grew up with cerebral palsy, college athletes, and players from professional academies like the Chicago Fire Academy. Ages range from 17 or 18 to 32 or 34. That means when I speak to the group, I’m bridging very different life experiences — someone fresh out of college might be chatting with a two-tour Afghanistan veteran.

Despite these differences, it works beautifully. I was just walking back earlier and saw one of our veteran players from the Ranger Regiment laughing and joking with a college freshman about life experiences — two people who would never have met otherwise. That mix of youth, enthusiasm, grit, and a will to win creates a dynamic and tightly-knit team. It’s really something special.

Looking ahead, how do you see the future of these programs within U.S. Soccer? As they continue to grow and you bring more staff on board, do you think there’s a model from another country worth learning from, or is U.S. Soccer taking its own unique approach in developing these national teams?

The American landscape is very unique for this form of the game — really, for any form of soccer. You can’t just copy and paste models from other countries. What U.S. Soccer has done in this space is actually remarkable. I’d say, outside of England, no federation in the world has invested as much in programs like ours.

Where we still have room to grow is in building a stronger league and club network nationwide. That’s the next big step. Long term, we want our current players to serve as pioneers — as living examples that inspire the next generation. We want every young person, regardless of ability, disability, or the barriers they face, to know that there’s a place for them in soccer. Not everyone will play for the CP national yeam, just like not everyone plays for the men’s or women’s national teams — but everyone can find their level and their community in the game.

Through U.S. Soccer’s Soccer Forward Foundation and our growth initiatives, that’s exactly what we’re working toward: getting more people, from all backgrounds and circumstances, out there playing the sport we love.

Interview edited for brevity and clarity.

If you feel you qualify for the cerebral palsy men’s national team or any other extended United States national team please contact US Soccer.