PACE — TOPSoccer provides athletic opportunities for children with various special needs who otherwise may get little physical activity.
According to Jennifer Higgenbotham, Gulf Breeze has had a TOPSoccer program for the last five years but now Pace has a league as well.
Higgenbotham said she and some other area mothers were looking into athletic programs for their special needs children and discovered TOPSoccer. She takes care of administrative duties for the league now in Pace.
Cissy Carnley said her 13 year old daughter, Collette, has several disabilities, the most prominent being cerebral palsy. She said the most physical activity she and her daughter, confined to a wheelchair, have done is a beauty pageant and some bowling.
“A group like this is a dream,” Carnley said.
Monica Dahlem said her daughter, Addison, has Down syndrome. She said she was able to play soccer in a standard recreation league but aged out at five years old and hasn’t been able to participate in soccer in four years.
“She feels part of a team,” Dahlem said.
Amanda Green is the team’s coach. She said she started coaching traditional recreation soccer in Gulf Breeze and a parent she knew asked her to coach for TOPSoccer.
“At first it was overwhelming, but now it’s my favorite part of the week. I’m thankful to the parents for the opportunity with the kids.”
Another aspect of TOPSoccer Green explained are the buddies.
“Each player gets a buddy. A lot of them come from the schools,” she said. These young people work with individual players the whole time passing the ball, directing where and how to kick, and being the players’ cheerleaders.
Wednesday was the league’s second practice. They meet at 6 p.m., every Wednesday at the Futbol Club of Santa Rosa, located at 3360 Joppa Road in Pace. There are no fees to parents for anything. For more information, visit the Pace Top Soccer league Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace soccer club lets disabled youth play