NJ Youth Soccer Impacts Lives for Athletes With Special Needs
New Jersey Youth Soccer has continued to see success with its TOPSoccer program as the state association concluded a Jamboree training session over the weekend. Representatives from the New York Red Bulls Street Team and Sky Blue FC were on hand to provide a special day for young athletes with special needs.
Youth Soccer News: New Jersey Youth Soccer continues to develop its TOPSoccer program, which is a community-based training and team placement initiative for young athletes with special needs.
Most recently, NJ Youth Soccer teamed up with West Orange Soccer to host a TOPSoccer Jamboree on Saturday afternoon that included representatives from the New York Red Bulls Street Team and Sky Blue FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
“On behalf of NJ Youth Soccer, we want to thank everyone who made our latest TOPSoccer event such a great success,” said Evan Dabby, NJ Youth Soccer Executive Director. “TOPSoccer is particularly rewarding to anyone who becomes involved with the program, and you can clearly see the positive effect that it is having on all of these young athletes. We are very proud to have TOPSoccer as an integral part of our programming here at NJ Youth Soccer.”
TOPSoccer provides a curriculum to train coaches and volunteers to provide fun and engaging soccer activities for young athletes with mental or physical challenges. The program, designed by U.S. Youth Soccer, emphasizes player-specific development, training and meaningful participation rather than competition and results.
Hosted at Liberty Middle School in West Orange, N.J., the TOPSoccer Jamboree on Saturday was conducted in partnership with West Orange Soccer. The free event featured soccer training in addition to games and entertainment for all of the players, buddies, coaches and families in attendance.
Special attractions at the Jamboree included a showcase by members of the New York Red Bulls Street Team, along with Kelly Conheeney and Danielle Schulmann from Sky Blue FC participating in the training sessions. Players also received free giveaways courtesy of generous event donors such as JAG Physical Therapy and Topps Trading Cards.
