Catching up with Bonner Rinn ahead of the IFCPF World Cup in Atlanta

Bonner Paddock Rinn thought soccer was behind him.

After earning a college scholarship to Concordia University Irvine as a goalkeeper, Rinn lost his starting job when his program recruited another keeper following his freshman season. Frustrated by a year on the bench, Rinn quit as a sophomore, convinced his playing career was over.

It remained closed for nearly three decades.

Twenty-eight years later, an email arrived from a stranger who had picked up Rinn’s memoir, “One More Step,” in an airport bookstore. The man, whose son, like Rinn himself, has cerebral palsy, passed the book to a co-founder of CP Soccer, a nonprofit that introduces children with cerebral palsy to the game. Rinn was invited to speak at one of its camps, where one of the founders’ sons played for the U.S. CP men’s national team.

“It just was a part of me that absolutely lit up again,” Rinn said. “It opened up this place that I had closed off at 20 years old.”

Today, at age 51, Rinn is competing for a place on the U.S. roster for the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football World Cup, which will be held in October at U.S. Soccer’s Arthur M. Blank National Training Center near Atlanta. Final roster selections will be announced in September, but simply having the opportunity to represent his country is indicative of a full-circle moment Rinn could have never imagined after walking away from the game.

“I was able to redesign a whole new relationship with soccer and really enjoy it step by step,” Rinn said. “This opportunity is an absolute gift that I never thought I would get.”

Overcoming obstacles

For Rinn, competing for a spot on the roster means much more than another athletic accomplishment. It is the latest chapter in a life defined by challenging assumptions about what’s possible.

Over the last two decades, Rinn:

• Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, becoming the first person with cerebral palsy to summit the mountain unassisted.

• Authored a New York Times bestselling book — donating its royalties to his nonprofit.

• Relocated to Mexico and expanded his foundation, Project Possible, into an international organization supporting six centers across five countries that create opportunities for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

The nonprofit, formerly known as the OM Foundation, operates differently than most charities. Rinn personally covers administrative expenses, allowing every donated dollar to go directly toward programs run by local partner organizations. There are no paid employees, only volunteers who work alongside community leaders already serving children with disabilities.

“What I’ve learned mainly is to maximize the world that I live in,” Rinn said. “We’re just empowering them to be the greatest they can be within their own people, their own communities and their own worlds.”

Living abroad has only reinforced that philosophy. Rinn has seen both the challenges families face accessing disability services and the power of communities working together to fill those gaps.

That same mindset extends into the sports industry, which is a comfortable place for Rinn. He started his career working for the National Sports Forum and later worked in sales for theAnaheim Ducks. He is a consistent presence at the SBJ National Sports Forum, where each year The Project Possible Award recognizes leaders who advance inclusion through sports. Rinn hopes the honor inspires industry executives to move beyond corporate initiatives and become personally invested in serving their communities.

“How can each sports industry person take their lives out into their community and make their own impact?” he said.

For now, his focus has shifted back onto the pitch.

International stage

The October tournament arrives at a unique moment for soccer in the United States. Coming months after the FIFA World Cup accelerated the sport’s momentum across North America, the IFCPF World Cup will become the first international competition staged at U.S. Soccer’s new national training center.

Rinn hopes fans who discover the sport at that Georgia event leave with a new appreciation for its quality.

“It’s a huge watershed moment for CP football,” Rinn said. “Hopefully greater exposure for kids with disabilities to know that there is an opportunity to play at a world-class level.”

He believes spectators will be surprised by both the speed and skill of seven-a-side CP football, played without an offside rule and featuring talented athletes competing at the highest international level.

Whether or not his name appears on the final roster next month, Rinn already considers the journey a victory.

His training looks nothing like it did in college. His relationship with competition has changed even more. Once driven by external validation, Rinn said he now competes out of gratitude and joy.

“It’s allowed me to have a dream that I had in some form,” Rinn said. “It looks very different now, but to fulfill that dream at the space I’m at on my journey is wild to me.”

Rinn said he will not measure the trajectory of his advocacy for CP by mountains climbed, books sold or medals won. He hopes people remember something much simpler.

“My legacy,” he said, “will be that I chose my passion and my purpose over anything else.”