TOP Soccer is an outreach program of U.S.Youth Soccer, for children ages 4 to 19 with special needs. Practice and games will be played on Saturdays from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at the Fairview High School auxiliary gym. The season will be Sep 6 through Oct 25. Coaches will provide instruction appropriate to each individual child's level. One-on-one assistance will be provided by volunteers called "soccer buddies". Specifically adapted equipment will be available for their use (sometimes extra large soccer balls are used).

The TOP Soccer program was created to train young people with special needs in a caring coaching environment to play soccer; to serve as a feeder program to recruit, assess and train players to participate in competitions offered by existing sports organizations for people with special needs; and to mainstream higher ability players onto regular youth soccer teams.TOP Soccer was designed not as a competitor to the programs run by other sports organizations, but rather as a complementary program that works hand in hand with organizations like Special Olympics to expand the overall training and competition opportunities for young people with special needs.

Corporate sponsors of the TOP Soccer program include Aquafina, BMI, Chevrolet, Holiday Inn, Kohl's, Pepsi, Spray 'n Wash, Tide, Uniroyal, and Whirlpool.

For further information or registration forms, contact Gail Weber at (615) 799-2875 or (615) 472-4434.