MISSION VIEJO : Disabled Youths Get Kicks in Prime Time

Last year, they played for a select group of parents and friends. On Saturday, a stadium filled with people will be watching.

Yet, for a group of kids who kicked off the state’s first soccer league for disabled children, playing at halftime of the U.S. Olympic Festival gold medal soccer match won’t be any more special than playing in a Mission Viejo field.

“For these kids, it’s just another chance to go out and have fun,” said Bob Prescott, who coached a team in the special Mission Viejo American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) league. “I’m not sure this game will affect them that much.”

Players for what is known as the Very Important Person League, the Mission Viejo kids were selected to demonstrate the program at halftime of the 2 p.m. match at El Camino College in Torrance.

The Mission Viejo program for disabled children is only the second of its kind in the nation. Soccer officials say the exposure of playing at a prominent Olympic Festival event could help the program spread around the country.

“This comes at a real key time,” said Alan Gallup, regional director for South Orange County AYSO, “because the national board of directors for AYSO is meeting in Detroit next month. At that time they will decide whether to (establish) this program nationally.”