Six-year-old Jaden Panaguiton, right, tries to grab Ariana Powell’s jersey during practice in Tustin on Sunday, October 2, 2016. (Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Jason Peery, center, scores a goal during soccer practice in Tustin on Sunday, October 2, 2016. (Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Six-year-old Ian Weirens, right, smiles as Emily Coombs lifts him during soccer practice in Tustin on Sunday, October 2, 2016. (Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Stewart Reid, right, throws the ball to Ryan Montgomery during soccer practice in Tustin on Sunday, October 2, 2016. (Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Six-year-old Jaden Panaguiton dribbles the ball during soccer practice in Tustin on Sunday, October 2, 2016. (Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
On a recent Sunday afternoon at Tustin Sports Park, soccer players gleefully scrambled up and down the field. Some aggressively went after the ball. Others were a bit more oblivious to the point of the game.
Running alongside them – or briskly pushing wheelchairs – were a dozen local middle and high school students
“You’re almost there, almost there!” Foothill High ninth-grader Devin Forester encouraged his charge as they neared the goal line. “Give it a big kick!”
High fives galore from start to finish.
Everyone plays. That’s the fundamental tenet of American Youth Soccer Organization, better known as AYSO. Nowhere is the philosophy so evident as in AYSO’s VIP (Very Important Player) program. VIP teams are comprised of children and adults whose physical or mental disabilities make it difficult to participate on mainstream teams.
Members of Assisteens, an arm of the Assistance League of Tustin, act as “soccer buddies” to the team.
“I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping them learn,” said Beckman High senior Ashley Palmer, who has donated her time to VIP for three years. “You actually see the players develop skills from one week to the next.”
Rather than battle other teams, players simply split up to scrimmage every weekend. However, on Sunday, the Tustin-based team will join more than 40 other teams from throughout Southern California in San Clemente for an annual tournament.
Coach Chris Morgan said teenage aides supply a big dose of fun for the players.
“It’s not just a bunch of adults telling them what to do,” said the Tustin resident.
Morgan has headed up his team, with players from around the county, for a decade. He started volunteering with AYSO 20 years ago when his own kids played.
“I was asked to work with VIP for a year, but I drank the Kool-Aid,” he said. “I love it.”
Coaching kids with special needs more often than not relieves rather than creates stress, Morgan said.
“They’re low-drama. And so are their parents,” he said.
Soccer mom Jane Gao’s 6-year-old son Vincent, a first-grader at Red Hill Elementary, signed up this fall. Vincent, who has autism, is nonverbal.
“The high school kids are so kind and passionate,” Gao said. “Vincent loses focus, but these kids are very patient with him.”
During a break, player Ian Weirens, 6, sat atop a soccer ball inventing his own games with Emily Coombs, a senior at Orange Lutheran High.
“This game is called ‘don’t get my ball,’” said the Loma Vista Elementary first-grader, who has autism. He instructed Coombs to throw grass at him in order to knock him off, but remained on his roost even as she complied.
“You keep changing the rules!” she playfully chided.
“I love the kids’ energy,” said Coombs, who, not surprisingly, wants to be a teacher.
Nelson Elementary first-grader Jaden Panguiton, who also has autism, clearly enjoyed himself as he adeptly dribbled the ball and shot goals.
“This is such a great activity for him,” said mom Kristie Panguiton. “He doesn’t follow directions well enough to play on a regular team. Here, no one is judging anyone.”
Contact the writer: sgoulding@scng.com
