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In Clearwater soccer league, kids with disabilities win big

By Demorris A. Lee, Times Staff Writer

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article974563.ece

Tyler Hardin dribbled the ball past several defenders before booting

it into the back of the net.

When the soccer game came to an end on Saturday's gorgeous afternoon,

Tyler, 12, walked toward his father with his hands in the air and

yelled: " Daddy, daddy, we won! "

Meanwhile, on a smaller soccer field at the Countryside Sports

Complex, Lynch and Sandorf, both 7, took turns taking

kicks on goal and playing goalie.

The youngsters' smiles and enthusiasm masked that fact they, along

with 48 other children who gather to play soccer on Saturday

afternoons, are living with life-altering disabilities.

" This is huge, " said Rick Hardin, 44, Tyler's father, of Tarpon

Springs. " For my son, it's a feeling that he's participating in

sports and is achieving the same level of accomplishment as our other

two children. "

The Clearwater Soccer Club hosted the Outreach Program for Soccer

(TOPS), a 4-year-old community soccer league for young athletes with

disabilities. The nine-week season ended Saturday.

For 45 minutes, the children, age 5 and up, are divided into five

different teams. The older children played against a club soccer

team. Saturday, it was the Clearwater Chargers boys youth 16-and-

under team and the Clearwater Soccer Club's girls youth 14-and-under

squad.

" The job is to make sure all the kids have a good time, " said

Tremblay, one of the league's organizers. " We make it competitive for

them but at the same time, we make it fun and rewarding. "

There is a similar program in northeast St. sburg.

It cost about $3,000 to run TOPS. Because of sponsorships, it is free

to participants. In addition to soccer, there's a pizza party each

week and at season's end, each child gets an award. This year it was

a medal at the end of a red, white and blue ribbon.

Margaret Tison, 41, brought her daughter , 15, to the Saturday

soccer league. has Down's syndrome.

" It's helpful because everything is done at their level, " Tison

said. " And they get to mingle with other kids with disabilities and

those who don't have disabilities. It helps both sides to see that

people are people.''

Javon Bostic, 16, a member of the Clearwater Chargers, played in one

of Saturday's games.

" It's really fun, " said the East Lake High student. " You see the

looks on their faces and you see them enjoying themselves; it really

gives you a good feeling. "

Karina White, 14, of the Clearwater Soccer Club agreed.

" It's rewarding to see all their smiles, " said the Tarpon Springs

Middle student. " It makes you feel like you've done something good

for kids. "

Tyler Hardin has microcephaly, a condition in which a child has a

small head and brain.

Lynch suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological

disorder that causes damage to the peripheral nerves. Sandorf

battles arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder of the joints.

Parents can talk in great detail about their children's diagnoses.

But on Saturdays at the soccer league, they don't have to do that. It

is not an issue.

At the league, it is about their children having fun in an organized

sport. Several parents had video cameras and recorded their children

running from one end of the field to the other wearing burgundy

jerseys and bright smiles.

" It's like we are a family, " said Hardin, 39, Tyler's

mother. " Here, we all can sit and talk and relate to one another. We

are a family. "