TOPSoccer Program
TOPSoccer... the Game for All Kids!
To The SoccerMaine Community (An Open letter)
Is soccer such a complicated and physical game that people with severe disabilities cannot play and enjoy the game like their peers because they would be too frustrated? The answer is a resounding NO!
Consider Jack (not his name), A twelve tear old boy with autism who has never played sports until joining Soccer Maine "Hot Spurs Program.” He came to our Greater Portland Program two years ago and his mother asked if Jack could try soccer for one week.
The first day, after much discussion and help from his mother Jack agreed to kick the ball 10 times. After the 10th kick Jack declared he was "all done" and immediately ran off the field and began looking at the many drawings he had made. Every couple of weeks we added a few more kicks and a little more time on the field. Jack got quite good at kicking and receiving but was always on his own with a coach working on his skills. At the end of the year we were excited that Jack stuck with the program and was able participate in skills for 30 minutes or more.
This past winter Jack was back again. A little bit taller and slimmer. His mother said that after TOPS last year he had started going to the YMCA with her and working out three times a week.
This season Jack began to play a little with the rest of the kids in the game at the end of the hour. With his soccer buddy by his side, Jack scored his first goal in an actual game. The next day the school was abuzz with news that Jack had scored. Jack told everyone he saw once, twice sometimes three times during that next day that "He scored a goal". After that week Jack was a regular participant in the weekly "big game". What once were 10 kicks and done, was now a full hour of kicking, running, and even falling.
The last indoor game came and Jack brought with him his two older brothers. After a while of watching they asked if they could play with Jack. It was great to see all three brothers playing a simple game. Their mother stated that all three of them had never played soccer together on the same team. Jack had always been on the sidelines either watching or looking at his drawings.
TOPSoccer provides soccer opportunities for kids to experience some of the joys of the Beautiful game.
"TOP Soccer continues to provide an unparalleled opportunity for skill building, self-esteem enhancement, and socialization opportunity for the students of The Spurwink School. Many such opportunities available to their age mates are not available to these students because of the severity of their disabilities. TOP soccer allows our kids to identify with and participate in a mainstream sport, to experience feelings of competence in a safe environment, to have student coaches from regular schools as role models, and generally to experience a sense of satisfaction and belonging that has all to often been absent from their lives. Speaking for the kids and the school, we are extremely grateful for this program." - K.C Macarthur Associate Director Spurwink School
I want to thank Soccer Maine and the many Soccer buddy's that came from area clubs like Maine Coast United and Odyssey. I hope to continue to expand this program and bring it to other communities.
Yours In Soccer,
Todd Whitcomb
TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) is a national soccer program created to train young people with disabilities in a caring coaching environment. The program is generally carried out by volunteers at the Spurwink School and within the club of Maine Coast united, with financial support from US Soccer, Soccer Maine Maine Special Olympics and Maine Coast United.
The TOPSoccer program not only gives young athletes with disabilities an opportunity to play soccer, it also serves as a feeder program to recruit, assess and train players to participate in competitions offered by existing sports organizations for people with disabilities and mainstreams higher ability players on to regular youth soccer teams.
By providing a community-based training and team placement program for young people with disabilities, any boy or girl, age 5 to 19 who has a mental or physical disability will have the opportunity to learn and play soccer and become valued and successful members of SoccerMaine and the US YOUTH SOCCER family.
TOPSoccer was designed not as a competitor to the programs run by other sports organizations for people with disabilities, but rather as a complementary program that works hand in hand with organizations like Special Olympics to expand the overall training and competition opportunities for young people with disabilities. The TOPSoccer program often works as a feeder program: recruiting, assessing, and training new soccer players who would benefit from opportunities sponsored by these sports organizations.
Many of the sports opportunities currently offered to young people with disabilities are school based. However, many parents of these young people would like their child to participate in the same community sports program as their non-disabled brothers and sisters - to wear the same club uniform, play at the same fields, go to the same awards banquets, and if appropriate, play on a non-disabled team. TOPSoccer can fill this need. The TOPSoccer program has also helped introduce the Unified Soccer Camp in many areas, a concept developed by Special Olympics. The Unified Soccer Camp brings together disabled and non-disabled soccer players in a positive and fun environment, hopefully breaking down social barriers through a common love of the game.
A basic TOPSoccer program consists of two vital components. The first is a field site where soccer players with disabilities can receive high-quality training to help develop their soccer skills. Training sessions could include activities such as scrimmages, small-sided games (3 v 3, 4 v 4) and tournaments. The second component of the TOPSoccer program is an ongoing player assessment process that places participants in the most appropriate playing situation, including placement on non-disabled, intramural and club teams, or involvement in programs established by other sports associations for people with disabilities (i.e., Special Olympics).
"Why do we need TOPSoccer? So that every kid can know the rewards of playing on a team, of trying to score – of being in the game! It brings a sense of accomplishment and sheer joy to kids who otherwise would have to sit on the sidelines. Parents can’t praise it enough, the siblings enjoy helping and cheering, the kids’ laughter and enthusiasm are infectious – In this program, everyone comes away a winner.”
- Julie Foudy, US Women’s National Team
Olympic Gold and Silver Medallist, World Cup Soccer Champion
For more information on TOPSoccer contact:
The Spurwink School
341 Pine Street
South Portland, Maine 04062
Phone: 207 781-1205
Fax: 207 871-1237
or email: toddwhitcomb2002@yahoo.com
