Gene's Soccer
AYSO Soccer, 2003:

Gene is playing in the VIP division of AYSO.  The name of his team is the Spitfires!!

August 16: His first game, and he came out running!  Of course, he slowed down pretty fast, being that it was high noon on a very hot day(!)  See some pix:
9/27/02: Gene kicking off
9/27/02: Gene practicing with teammates
9/27/02: Gene stopping the ball & stealing it
9/27/02: Gene passing to a teammate
9/27/02: Gene's Fast Break!  Just before he scored a goal!
AYSO Soccer, 2002:

The name of his team this year is the Superstars.  He has a different coach this year, Coach Larry.
Gene is doing so much better this year.  He wants to be independent during practices ("I want to practice with my teammates, not with you." - Oh well - ).  Each practice is better.  Now he  wants to go to practices and will "suit up" with shinguards & cleats(!) and all, and does get out there and play.  There have been 1 or 2  times where he wanted to wander off, but so far he has come very close to practicing the full hour.  The timing of games is in the AM, but not quite so early.   Gene has been playing most of the whole game (vs last year he would play very little and spend most of the time in the bathroom!)

9/27/02: See above pix from the game(!) (Mouse over the pix for more info.) Gene got more into the mix - it was drizzling, so half the team didn't show thus giving him more opportunity to actively play.  He actually made a goal! Yahoo!!.
AYSO Soccer, 2001:

Gene began the VIP division of AYSO in August, 2001.  What a great group of parents!!  We had a chance to meet up with some of the kids we hadn't seen at Easter Seals swimming in a while as well as some kids from the Children's Hospital group.

This was a bit more difficult for Gene.  The timing was much better: early in the AM, so no complaints there and the coach and team parents were wonderful!  Gene just really had a difficult time with the more competitive nature of the sport.  There were kids much bigger than him and the confrontational part of the game was very scary for him.  One time he was knocked down by a bigger boy (unintentional and the boy felt so bad!!), but after that, it was a real chore to keep him playing.  He would want to go out during the game and come back to practice during the breaks.

He would say he wanted to go to the practices and then just as we would pull into the park, he would get a huge anxiety fit and freak out.  One time I just had him go anyway and said we would watch and slowly got him to join in.  This is where it was very clear that it was the game-playing that bothered him because as soon as everyone took a break, Gene grabbed a ball and ran it down the field for a goal. The coach was so excited because he had never seen Gene like that before.

So this is something we will need to work on.  Maybe by the time next year rolls around things will be different; we'll see.
Children's Hospital Adaptive Soccer:

Gene tried out soccer in the summer of 2001.  He had never played soccer before, let alone really ever trying to dribble / kick a ball more than once.  I signed him up for an introductory program sponsored by Children's Hospital, mainly because there were occupational therapist acting as the coaches and I had wanted to introduce him to some team-based sports (since he is athletic, but need to find a good fit for his abilities).  This was very good timing and I was very excited about it.

The first day the kids sort of "tried out" to see where they fit best.  There were all kinds of disabilities, both physical and developmental.  Gene surprised us all, most of all me!  He took the ball and dribbled it all the way across the field, back and forth!  He did some passing skills; the instructor wanted to know how long he had been playing(!)

The difficulty in this program was that it was in the summer and it was a very hot summer.  Even though the practices/games were early evening, the kids were getting dehydrated and tired.  Gene seemed to keep wanting to take breaks.  I would first kindof motor him through the games and he regularly scored a couple or few times.  This was a very positive experience for him.  It was also low pressure and the kids weren't really stealing the ball from each other, so if they had it, they had an opportunity to score.  Gene always did better in the drills versus game-playing.
August 21, 2004:
Gene's goal & doing some nice dribbling.
AYSO Soccer, 2004:
Gene is playing on the Bengal Tigers team in the VIP division.  He has the same coach as last year and 2 yrs before that - I am very happy about that!!  Coach Paul is really great with Gene.  Here are some pix from his games.
September 18, 2004:
Gene did great today - everyone liked his energy & quickness to the ball.
October 9, 2004:
Some pix from the game:
October 16, 2004:
Gene having a lot of fun!
AYSO Soccer, 2005:
Gene is on the Gators team this year.  He has the same coach as the last 2 years and 2 yrs before that!!  Coach Paul is really great with Gene.  Here are some pix from his games.
August 20, 2005
October 1:
Gene has his moments; he just an observer & then will just take off after the ball.  He even pressured a girl defensively.  See photos below..