Teens Have A Ball Helping Soccer Buddies
JUDY HILL
Published: May 6, 2004
Hank Andringa stood on the sidelines at St. Petersburg's Puryear Park late Saturday afternoon and surveyed the field in front of him.
The scene was loud, energetic, kinetic - the organized chaos typical of a group of kids yelling and screaming while dribbling and kicking soccer balls.
Only a second look revealed that this was not your typical youth soccer practice.
The uniforms are the same. The balls, shin guards, socks and athletic shoes, too.
Beyond that, there's little standard about TOPSoccer, an outreach program of US Youth Soccer that offers the soccer experience to kids with physical and developmental disabilities.
The Northeast Raiders youth soccer club based in St. Petersburg runs the 3-year-old Puryear program and provides uniforms, equipment, coaches and hot dogs, chips and soda after each game.
A pizza party crowns each eight-week season, which also includes a picture day.
Saturday was that picture day, so uniforms - and smiles - were bright.
Volunteers Are Key
Andringa, a Pinellas County judge, is the Puryear TOPSoccer chief hot dog cook.
His dedication doesn't stem from having a child competing on the field, as is so often the case.
Oh, Andringa had a kid at midfield.
But Brad, an eighth-grader at Bay Point Middle School, was one of nearly 40 "buddies'' without whom TOPSoccer couldn't exist.
"The buddies are key. They're crucial,'' says Charlie Weniger, who recruits and trains buddies.
The players range in age from about 6 to 20. Their disabilities cover the spectrum.
One youngster wears a breathing apparatus. Several in the past have used wheelchairs or crutches. Many are developmentally delayed. Several are autistic. Others have birth defects.
Many of the buddies play club soccer with the Northeast Raiders. Others are high school, even college, soccer players. Some, members of the women's soccer team at Saint Leo University in Pasco County, come each week to help out.
Fun For All
For adults in need of signs that the world will be OK in the hands of the next generation, it's almost impossible not to lapse into superlatives about the program.
As the able teens patiently and tenderly coaxed and coached kids with disabilities, Andringa shook his head and mused, "It's a beautiful thing. It doesn't get much better than this.''
Weniger, a financial consultant whose volunteer effort started when his soccer-player daughter, Kari, got involved, is even more smitten.
"It's probably the most fun and rewarding effort I've ever been involved with.''
Fortunately, the kids aren't into cultural analysis or in need of inspiration.
They are matter-of-fact.
Brad Andringa, who was the Southeast Regional TOPSoccer Buddy of the Year in 2003, says he comes out because it's fun.
John and Tyler Gjeldum, 19 and 17, respectively, are two of 43 players in the program.
John, who is developmentally delayed, was almost dismissive when asked how he liked Saturday's game.
"Good,'' he said.
To him it was all pretty ordinary.
The way it ought to be.
Judy Hill can be reached at (813) 259-7812 or by writing her c/o The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa FL 33601.
