WESTON, Wis. (WSAW) – If you grew up playing sports, you might remember attending a camp. One that brought you new friends, coaches you look up to, and more love for that sport. That’s exactly what some kids in the Wausau area are feeling as they attended a soccer camp designed for kids with disabilities.
TOPSoccer is known for adapting the game for individuals with disabilities. Not only is it a way to play the game with a better and easier understanding, it also help kids with disabilities connect with one another.
TOPSoccer stands for ‘The Outreach Program for Soccer’. For the past two Sundays, coaches have been adapting all sorts of activities to certain levels of understanding for kids with disabilities.
“We’ve kind of just been doing any different activity to adapt to their level. We’ve been doing some scrimmages and just fun games overall,” said Brooklyn Turner, coach of the TOPSoccer camp.
While playing soccer is a big part of the camp, making friends and connections is another.
“They’re all so happy while doing it. So just seeing them want to participate and being able to participate is really why we do it and being able to include everybody,” said Turner.
That’s also Turner’s favorite part about the camp. She’s not new to coaching camps like this, or even working with kids with disabilities.
“I kind of knew like in fourth grade that I wanted to be a special education teacher. And then back in 2019, when my soccer club that I was a part of the Howard Fire FC, they kind of brought this program in and I didn’t really know what it was,” she said.
Turner says after she showed up and started working with the kids, she realized the shift. Her worlds collided in the best way possible.
“It is just giving the players an opportunity to be a part of a team, which is what they all want. They can bring it back in compared to their friends at school. Like oh yeah, I play soccer on a team and like it just it really warms them too,” said Turner.
Turner says TOPSoccer is always looking for people to be a part of the buddy program to help with these events. These are people who work and connect one-on-one with a child. Turner says it doesn’t have to be in the Wausau area, they can connect you with any of their camps in the state.
Click here for more information about the TOPSoccer program.
Copyright 2025 WSAW. All rights reserved.
发表回复