Childrens with Special Needs Soccer program

Rene - posted on 01/08/2010

My boys have been on the volunteer end of the TOPSoccer program and it is FANTASTIC! It is held in cooperation with our local rec league and every weekend different teams volunteer time to spend a few hours with special needs students. They run drills and spend time with the participants in whatever capacity they can. Sometimes the participating students don't want to "play" and I have often times found my son just sitting with a child, if that's what the child wants. I highly respect the mission of the program and think it's a great thing to be involved with. And it's great for the volunteer kids too. Best of luck in your endeavor, it's a great ambition.

Tiffany - posted on 03/07/2009

I'm the team mom for the Tigers out here in Las Vegas. We are team that is part of a regular league, but our team is made up of Special needs kids. There are 2-4 teams in each age division like ours. We play against those teams. Now, I'm not sure the type of special needs that you will be catering to, but on our team we have kids that have had transplants, cancer survivors, severe asmatics, a little girl with advanced rheumatoid arthritis, and several developmentally challenged children. At first it was tough, but our league has allowed us to keep our team together with the same uniforms and the same practices and playing fields, its been very stable and consistant for the kids. It helps to have teams with high numbers because constant substitution ensures that kids are able to get breaks often, and games never have to be forfeited because too many kids are sick that week. We also have special clinics every week where the kids are able to work on position specific play, that way we can find positions that are best suited to the needs of each child. After four seasons, our kids are really playing well enough to play with the regular teams. We've started doing so this season actually. Today was our last game of the winter league, and playing in the mix we finished with 5 wins - 2 ties - 3 losses. Good Luck. Let me know if we can be of any help!

Julie - posted on 02/26/2009

Our town has a soccer program for special needs children and it's called "Tops". I don't know a lot about it, but I am attaching a link to their website: http://www.CapitalSoccer.com/tops I also have friends (husband & wife) who coach and are involved with the soccer club that sponsors the Tops program. They may be able to give you more information. Their names are Jackie & Rudy Wagner and Jackie's e-mail is: adminstrator@capitalsoccer.com

Good luck!