TOPSoccer getting kids with disabilities onto the field

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Kids with disabilities often feel stuck on the sidelines. A new program is getting them on the field.

“He’s so used to being looked at as he can’t really keep up,” Edel Puentes, Axel’s mom, explained.

Her son 2-year-old son, Axel, has a spine condition.

“It affects his muscles and the feeling of his lower body. He cannot walk without his braces. So he needs support,” Puentes said.

TOPSoccer, The Outreach Program for Soccer, looks beyond disabilities.

“Whether they have an intellectual disability, behavioral, emotional, or physical, we adapt everything for them to be successful on the soccer field,” said Mallorie Lafarge, TOPSoccer Coordinator and Director with the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association.

Sporting Wichita partnered with the Kansas State Youth Soccer Association (KSYSA) to launch the program.

“They had almost 86 athletes register. We had to expand our time two or three different times,” Lafarge said.

The experience is adapted to each kid.

“They asked if there were any needs, if there were any concerns, if there were any special things she really enjoyed. Those kinds of things. So they kind of had an idea of what she liked before she started playing,” explained Sarah Rivers, as she watched her daughter play.

The program helps players reach new goals.

“Jackson had been asking when he could start playing sports,” said Abby Story.

Story’s son is 4 years old and has brittle bones.

“A lot of adaptive sports don’t start until the kids are a little bit older. So this was perfect,” Story said.

TOPSoccer is expanding across Kansas. Five new programs are being established this year.