Changing Lives,One Goal at a Time

Changing Lives
Team sports are one of the defining experiences of childhood. Weekday practices, Saturdays on the field, victory, defeat and a sense of purpose and accomplishment are all part of growing up. American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) provides that experience for thousands and thousands of kids across the country, including a large number of players with disabilities who participate on VIP (Very Important Player) teams.
VIP teams are made up of three or more players and can be organized based on mobility or ability, gender, age or size, according to the needs of the Region. Buddies are non-disabled persons who can be on the field to offer support and encouragement to the athletes during play. The program is staffed entirely by volunteers.
Jamie and Chuck Meyerโs daughter Lucy started playing VIP in Region 69 two years ago. Lucy is 13 and has cerebral palsy. Her parents say VIP has changed Lucyโs life.
โHer friends were all involved in team sports. Well, Lucy canโt do that, so she has always been a spectator. With AYSO she gets to do the warm up like a regular team player. She has a jersey โ and the jersey is critical. She has practice. The buddies are just amazing with her,โ Jamie says. โShe loves it. Her friends have their club volleyball, and sheโs got AYSO soccer. Sheโs just like all the other kids. She feels like she is a part of something.โ
It was difficult for the Meyers to find a team sport program for their daughter.
โItโs complicated to get that many kids together with that kind of dynamic. You canโt hire someone to do that,โ Jamie says. โWith VIP, sheโs learning in a really safe environment how to do sports and how to be on a team. Itโs so important for development. She is learning how to pass the ball and that itโs not just all about her โ itโs about the team. If you could see her face โ it says it all.โ
Lucy says she loves soccer and plans to play for a long, long time.
โSoccer is awesome. I just like being with the kids and helping them and kicking the ball and being who I am. It is a lot of running, but itโs fun. I just love it,โ she says.
Coach Don is a big part of the great experience Lucy is having with VIP. Don Randolph and his wife Suzanne started the VIP program in Region 69 nearly 7 years ago. Their son Charlie, now 18, has autism, and they wanted to give him the soccer experience his older sisters had.
Does Charlie enjoy playing soccer with his dad?
โYeah!โ is his enthusiastic answer.
โHeโs been involved with the program ever since we started it. Before that he was dragged/invited to attend my two older daughtersโ thousands of games,โ Don says.
Patience, flexibility, optimism and how to enjoy the moment are just a few of the lessons VIP volunteers learn.
โWhen the season starts I tell the coaches and buddies โwe always get as much out of the program as the players.โ Learning from them and seeing the happiness on their faces is as uplifting and rewarding as anything you could do on a Saturday morning,โโ Don says. โMy experience is that everybody learns from their interaction with the special needs kids.โ
โWe have one player who has been with us from the beginning, who has no words and shows no emotion on his face. But over the years, with the devotion of his mother, of course, he has learned to give me a special greeting when he comes on the field and when he leaves, reminding us that he is in there. But you just have to be patient to experience his personality,โ Don says.
โI have another player who is very skilled, but on many occasions he will be sprinting down the field in full control of the ball and when he sees me on the sideline he will stop in middle of the play and ask me which car I drove to the game that day,โ Don says. โYou never know what to expect.โ
โOur motto for the program is โThe buddies are beautiful, the sun is always shining, and the score is always tied.โโ
Many VIP volunteers have children with disabilities, and that is what motivates them to participate. Coaches like Mike Shirley, Region 168, consider themselves lucky to contribute to what VIP does for their children and others.
โI would have to say that one of my favorite moments is the first day of every soccer season. It is such a great feeling to see all the returning players and their families, along with some new kids as well, all coming back with smiles on their faces and excited to be part of a team,โ Mike says.
โSeeing the positive effects sports have had in our son Chase drives me to want to share the benefits of adaptive sports with others,โ Mike says. โI also enjoy being able see first hand the difference playing soccer has on each of these kids, how it improves their social skills, self-esteem, confidence and the way it bring families together to support the program and each other.โ
Dick Wilson is a former executive director of the AYSO National Support & Training Center. He played a part in creating VIP. Early on, he got a call from a parent and he wasnโt at all sure the call was going to be positive.
โThis mother called me and she said, โMr. Wilson, Iโve got to talk to youโ and I thought โOh, boy, here it comes.โ So she says โWe have a son who is autistic. We have two other children playing and my husband has coached them. Weโve tried to make our son a part of everything, even though he couldnโt play, and then you started this program,โ and I thought โhere it comes,โโ Wilson recounts.
โThen she said โI just took him to pick up his uniform and we got in the car and he held it to his chest and he didnโt say a word. Heโs usually very talkative. Well, we got home and he went running in the house screaming โDad, dad, Iโm a real kid now.โโ
Regional VIP programs can be created with just a single team that plays a mainstream AYSO team. The program is flexible and can be designed to fit the needs of the players in the Region. Each VIP program operates within the existing structure of an AYSO Region/Area to ensure that volunteers and players have the full support of AYSO and its resources.
โVIP is a priceless experience for parents and their children. There is a true need for this program in every community,โ says Colleen Dalit, AYSOโs National VIP Coordinator.
For information on existing VIP programs or on how to start a program, contact Colleen at vip@ayso.org or (800) 872-2976.
Visit: www.ayso.org
Melissa Bean Sterzick is a freelance writer who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters. She has played, coached and refereed for AYSO, and was the editor of PLAYSOCCER from 2002 to 2005.
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This post originally appeared on our January/February 2011 Magazine