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Volunteering your time is a great way to give back to your community and provide resources to youth in need. By volunteering with youth soccer groups, you're not only passing along valuable skills but helping kids further their love of soccer, physical activity and giving them role models to look up to.
One organization I have volunteered with in the past is Top Soccer. Top Soccer is an organization that was promoted through the soccer club I play at and they help kids with special needs (either mental or physical disabilities) by giving them time to play soccer with other kids their age and have as much fun as possible. The idea behind this is that due to their circumstances, these kids don't usually get to live a life similar to other kids their age and we believe that by giving our time and attention when we meet up, it would get them closer to that feeling and the happiness that activities like these bring.
We meet up every weekend for about 5 to 7 weeks during the spring and dedicate a good hour of play with the kids through the buddy system. So basically when you get there on the weekend, you help setup to get the field ready for the kids, and as the families trickle in, one of the managers pairs you up with a kid and you go off on any adventure the kid wants. There are many soccer related games that I found were actually quite fun, like for example bowling with your feet, knocking down sculptures, or the simple 4 on 4 mini game or target practice. I find with the mixture of all these fun activities and these bright children (buddies and players) this time with Top Soccer is a great environment for these kids to learn the beauty of soccer and most importantly have fun. I would certainly recommend doing this as nothing is better than to see these kids happy.
To learn more about Top Soccer or volunteer, please visit their site here.
Top Soccer is a program to provide children with special needs the opportunity to play soccer in a fun, safe, encouraging environment. FC United players have the opportunity to volunteer as "Buddies" to partner with the participants in the program. The program is run by the TSC Foundation, a not-for-profit (501c3) organization that provides opportunities for children with special needs to participate in sports.