Melrose Offers Soccer Program for Kids With Disabilities

Melrose Youth Soccer is offering a soccer program this fall for kids with special needs.

TOPSoccer is a U.S. Youth Soccer program that was created to bring the opportunity for learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl who has cognitive or physical disabilities.

Athletes are placed on teams according to ability, not age. It’s geared toward player development, not competition.

A group of students from Melrose High School and Malden Catholic High School, and Melrose Youth Soccer Board members, have teamed up to make the program possible.

The four-week season will start with a training session for volunteers on September 20, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the Cabbage Patch Field in front of the middle school in Melrose.

The following three Sundays, September 27, October 4, and October 11, will be dedicated to hosting challenged participants from ages 5 to 17. It will also be held on the Cabbage Patch field from 2:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.