One of the many beauties of a sport is the community that it helps foster. In the case of soccer, recognized globally as “the beautiful game,” it may have taken some time to reach the states but is now one of the most popular sports, especially at the youth level. For Columbus Soccer, Tom Velek is one of the important figures in providing as many youth soccer opportunities for the area as possible.
Velek, who is also a professor of history at Mississippi University for Women and soccer coach at Heritage Academy, first became involved with Columbus Soccer when his sons took an interest in the game. Though his sons have both graduated high school, Velek and his wife Cindy Buob remain active members in the Columbus soccer scene. In particular, Velek has been passionate about the Columbus TOPSoccer program, a unique social and sporting experience for the area’s disabled children.
TOPSoccer is a nationwide US Soccer program designed to make the game accessible and safe for children with disabilities, physical or otherwise, who might not be able or comfortable playing in a recreational youth league. Velek brought TOPSoccer to Columbus in 2010, and helped revive the program in 2019 after it had been on hiatus during his brief time away from Columbus Soccer. In doing so he’s helped to implement an adaptive approach to soccer that shapes the game around the needs and abilities of the player.
“Our entire philosophy is we adapt the game to the player,” Velek said. “Either through changing the game, different equipment, having the game change so they can play the game, not asking the kids to change so they can play the game.” Whether physical or otherwise, players with a range of disabilities have been able to play soccer in a way that suits them thanks to TOPSoccer.
Velek also made the decision to move TOPSoccer into the regular Columbus Soccer Rec system.
“I felt that it was important that we have this be when the rest of soccer was, that it be essentially integrated into our regular season. Maybe not to not stigmatize it, but to make everyone feel like this is just something we do.
“We have an end of the year game that they work towards, and we do a championship walk out for them and everything, so it’s not just a one-off sort of program, we want to give them something their building towards and a season ending finale,” Velek said.
In addition to coaching and organizing the program, Velek has helped to identify helpful coaches such as Evans Dawson, a teacher in the Lowndes County school system who specialize in special education. Dawson helps identify the specific needs for each participating child and assigns equipment specific to the child’s needs.
“An aspect of any sport is the social aspect of it,” Dawson said, “and a lot of times children with special needs in the community don’t have as many opportunities to have a social experience like you get with sports. [TOPSoccer] really gives the children a chance to develop some relationships with children that are like them as well as children that are not like them.”
The buddy system Velek introduced has helped build these relationships. It utilizes able-bodied volunteers, partnered with players, to help make the game more accessible and provide someone to help address the individual needs of the participants. For Velek, the experience creates a valuable relationship between players and buddy, but also provides perspective for the buddy. “It’s awakening them to things that are taken for granted,” Velek said, “being able bodied, not living with a special need, but also introducing them on a very personal level to someone with special needs shows them a lot of the prejudice, hate, and discrimination that happens towards these kids. I think it’s a very important experience for both the buddy and the player.”
TOPSoccer in Columbus has also been able to remain a free program to all participants, thanks to partnerships with the Columbus YMCA and the Rowdy Foundation. “They just wrote a grant, we have a bunch of new equipment, so we’re thankful for them, and the Y also has an indoor facility that we can use in case it rains.”
The program was unfortunately postponed for 2021 due to low registration, but Velek is hopeful of resuming their regular activities in 2022, possibly with a spring season. “We’re hoping to garner some more interest in the program,” Velek said, “and if parents are interested in signing their kids up for a Spring season they should get in touch with us.”
Those interested can find out more about TOPSoccer at columbusmssoccer.org, or can reach out to Velek or Dawson.
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