**2022 Temecula Valley Soccer Association**

2022 TOPs Soccer Program - Soccer for the Temecula Valley’s special needs kids.

All of our kids have done or are doing some sort of sport. Currently we have a flag football player (he’s a little too frail to run tackle. Hope he puts on some weight in the 4th grade.) and a competitive swimmer (it’s her first year, but she has a bit of potential to really put it on as a freshman in two years.). Who knew being pigeon-toed was a good thing?! Our youngest is 4 and has been diagnosed with autism. He’s pretty high functioning, but it's been a wild ride trying to get communication down pat.

Having just moved to the Temecula area, we have had to get used to the different organizations available to our kids. Luckily my wife spends far too much time scrolling Facebook. She had happened to come across a post about the Temecula Valley Soccer Association hosting a program called TOPs. What it is, is soccer program for children in the local community with special needs. They are split up into groups based not just on their ages, because anyone who has knowledge of people with special needs on an immediate family level, knows that the phrase “age ain’t nothing but a number.” never rings truer than with those with the most special needs. Is that an all encompassing statement? No. I know that there are varying levels of anything and these days, no one situation/statement applies to everyone.

Our Noah, aside from his classmates and those who he goes to therapy with, rarely has the opportunity to interact with other kids. Especially in a large group setting. We were a bit scared. Normally, we have to prepare for any type of meltdown (to typical people, these may look like tantrums) or a breakdown in communication with the coach or other players. Such is an atypical life. It does make it interesting and eventful at the very least. But to our surprise, he had a blast! Not only is the program built and catered as specifically as possible for kids like mine, but the people hosting, coaching and volunteering looked and acted like they were legitimately having a great time and had a genuine desire to work with these kids. From the adults to the volunteers from the various middle and high schools in the area, I felt like my child was not only having a great time, but was learning the difference between a basketball (which is what he was calling a soccer ball) and a soccer ball.