Wootton To Host Soccer Special Olympics Festival

Sunday at Wootton High School, TOPSoccer partners with Special Olympics Maryland – Montgomery County (SOMO) and local soccer associations for a unique event.

The TOPSoccer program is designed for young athletes with disabilities including intellectual disability, severe learning disability, autism, Downs Syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and impaired vision and hearing. The Meredith Cup TOPSoccer Festival is a culminating, Special Olympics event for participants in the program.

“We try to make [the Festival] a big, grand experience,” said Schuessler, who also helps run TOPSoccer’s weekly Sunday clinics. “Not just for the athletes on the field, but also for their parents and grandparents and siblings in the stands, to give them an opportunity to have that festive environment.”

The festival will feature opening ceremonies for the athletes followed by skill stations for the elementary age players, and games for the middle school and high school age players. Each age group’s activity is immediately followed by an awards ceremony.

Schuessler, who has been involved with the program since his first year with MSI in 2001, said he thinks the kids learn a great deal from the program. Although they aren’t great players, they are in an environment where they are developing skill sets, and some get quite competitive.

“It’s a participation-based program, but I think that for the kids they do get a sense of competition,” Schuessler said. “You will see a lot of kids out there for whom the competitive aspect is very important to them. Regardless of whether they’re necessarily able to compete at a high level physically, they’re competing at a high level mentally.”

For those who aren’t in it for competition, TOPSoccer also provides “an incredible social atmosphere” for the kids, Schuessler said. 

Pam Yerg, director of SOMO and TOPSoccer in Maryland and a close friend of Schuessler’s, originally drew the Wootton coach to the program. Yerg helped design and build TOPSoccer over 12 years ago with the mission to offer “a game for every child,” she said.

The most important experience for TOPSoccer participants “is having the opportunity to have quality soccer training designed for their individual level of ability in a nurturing and fun environment,” she said.

But, Yerg said, the program doesn’t work without dedicated volunteers. The parents and players who help organize and participate in the program make the experience that much better for the kids.

The volunteers referee games, work the concession stands, and help with equipment, Schuessler said, adding that they help add to the Festival experience.

Wootton parent Lynn Markenson is returning for her second year as a volunteer. Soccer has always been a part of her family and the Meredith Cup Festival marks a great way to volunteer and support the soccer community, she said.

Markenson and her youngest son worked the concession stand last year while her husband and other sons were on the field as referees. She was quick to see how wonderful the experience was for all attendees. 

“It is just a wonderful day full of fun and smiles by not only the kids, but their families,” Markeson said. “It was great to see parents, grandparents and siblings cheering for the players.”