Soccer League Matches Disabled Youth With Mainstream Teams

After weeks of practice and anticipation, a group of youngsters will play its first soccer game of the season today.

From a distance, the colorful uniforms dotting the field resemble those of any other team, but a closer look reveals some differences in the Saugus-based VIP soccer league.

The team is made up of children with disabilities--such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism and Tourette syndrome. Organizers say that, although the youths are out there to have fun, they are also breaking down stereotypes about the disabled.

With 52 players on four teams, the Saugus league is one of the largest for disabled players in the American Youth Soccer Organization. There is no age limit for players in the VIP league.

“What’s really cool is watching the parents of the other team cheering our kids on,” said Dave Posner, an insurance claims adjuster who has been coaching disabled players for six years.

“They’ll get up and clap and cheer as if their team scored a goal. They learn everything isn’t about winning.”

Posner’s son Robbie, 14, who has a mild case of cerebral palsy and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, is on a VIP team.

“They play their hearts and souls out. . . . It’s been awesome to watch them,” Posner said.

AYSO added disabled teams in 1991. That year, US Youth Soccer, another major group, started its disabled program and now has more than 10,000 participants.

About 2,000 players nationwide participate in AYSO’s 120 programs for the disabled, about 50 of which are in Southern California, officials said.

The Saugus AYSO teams initially played only intrasquad games, but about five years ago, coaches began to schedule games against traditional teams with similar skills.

The arrangement works well for Kimberly Goff, 16, who started playing soccer five years ago and also refereed last year.

“It’s more of a challenge playing against teams my own age,” said Kimberly, a junior at Canyon High School in Canyon Country. It’s more competitive playing against non-VIP teams.”

Kimberly had a stroke in utero and spent her first six months after birth in the hospital. She was 8 years old before she could walk on her own or eat solid food.

Until age 10, she used a tracheal tube to breathe, but the next year, she was able to join a soccer team. The experience has improved her coordination, among other things, her parents say.

“It’s definitely helped her self-esteem to know she could do something like everyone else,” said her mother, Barbara Goff.

The VIP league games are not counted in AYSO standings, but the players are urged to play by the rules as much as possible.

During the 12-game season, severely disabled players are allowed to have aides on the field, and coaches ask other team members to play gently.

“The older kids get penalized for picking up the ball, but when the younger ones do it, we tell them, ‘Put the ball on the ground,’ ” said Ted Norris, an insurance agent who runs the Saugus VIP league, although he has no disabled children. “It’s more relaxed [than traditional games], a much more friendly environment and definitely more fun.”

Norris’ son said he enjoys playing soccer with disabled children.

“It helps you to learn to work with different people,” said Max, 12, a seventh-grader at Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Valencia. “It’s a real privilege to play against them.”

Casey Gilruth, a 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome on a VIP team, has wanted to play soccer ever since his older sister took up the sport last year.

“He’s been chomping at the bit,” said his father, John Gilruth, a grocery store manager. “All summer, he was asking, ‘Who’s my coach?’ ”

A shortage of coaches has been the program’s biggest challenge, AYSO spokeswoman Lolly Keys said.

Just last week the Saugus league found someone to coach its fourth VIP team. The league’s new head coach, Liz Griffith, mother of one of the players, said she feels prepared for the task because of her previous experience as a volunteer with Special Olympics.

“I can definitely see it’s going to be much more challenging,” she said. “It will just take time and patience until they get the hang of it.”

The Saugus VIP teams will play this morning at three area elementary and middle schools.