To Tops Soccer and It’s Coaches

Many of us wonder why make a soccer league for special needs kids.  The kids like to kick the ball, but they can do that on their own, right?  Many of the kids don’t understand the basics.  They don’t even get why you guard the net, which way the ball should be going, what Team A vs. Team B really means, nor concepts of defense, forward, goalie…. What’s the point if they just don’t get it?   I admit that I thought of giving up on the idea for Naomi. We just weren't getting anywhere.

But when I tell her she can play soccer on a team, she lights up!  For most people, being on a soccer team, means the skill and strategy of playing the game, the joy of victory and the agony of defeat.  Some special needs kids think of it the same way.  But many of these kids, including Naomi, have a different perspective.   Many of them for years have stood on the sidelines, watching others and have always being excluded… They never wore the uniform that made them part of a team.  Now that uniform makes them feel like they belong to a group, no longer excluded.
When these kids watched from the sidelines they wanted to join in but were never invited.  They were most likely told to ‘stay off the field’.   Now they have the chance they’ve been denied.  They can get out on the field in their colorful uniforms and just go with the flow- even when that flow looks pretty disjointed.   For them, scoring a goal or winning a game isn’t the point. They get to be a part of something bigger than themselves.  It may not look like much from the sidelines, but we should never underestimate what that means to them.  There are many special needs kids that score goals and think about points and winning games, and this league suits them too.  They get to get in the super stars, and who doesn’t love that opportunity!
 Every week I watch my daughter stand in the middle of the field and play with her hair without too much awareness of how a soccer game is played.  But every week I ask her “Do you want to go to soccer?” And every week she says “Soccer!” which is her way of saying ‘yes.’  So amidst the long and frequent water fountain breaks and wondering around different parts of the field I know she is welcome.  I know her coach will never come to me and complain that she isn’t following instructions with the indirect intention of suggesting that we quit.  Finally, I know she wants to be there, and that’s good enough for me. 
So thanks, Tops Soccer!  You mean so much to so many!