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Serving Columbus & Starkville, Mississippi        (https://cdstg1922.wpenginepowered.com/) Home  » (https://cdstg1922.wpenginepowered.com/news/) News  » TOPSoccer gives children with disabilities a place on the field   (https://cdispatch.com/news/columbus-lowndes-county/) Columbus & Lowndes County   TOPSoccer gives children with disabilities a place on the field By (https://cdispatch.com/author/bsimmons/) Braden Simmons  • 10 hours ago  • 4 mins to read   (TOPSoccer gives children with disabilities a place on the field)   Kyndal Austin, left, a volunteer with Columbus Soccer Organization’s Outreach Program for Soccer, poses for a photo with Wake Baucom, 8, at the Roger Short Soccer Complex in 2025. CSO’s TOPSoccer program, an affiliate program of a national recreational sports effort for children and adults with intellectual, emotional, or physical disabilities to play soccer through local US Youth Soccer-affiliated soccer clubs, is kicking off its season Monday with 15 children participating at the Roger Short Soccer Complex. Photo Courtesy of Cindy Buob  Mallory Baucom will never forget the sound of the intercom announcing her 8-year-old son, Wake Baucom, as a player before a match last year at Roger Short Soccer Complex. Because Wake has Down syndrome, Mallory said his entire life she has had to fight for his involvement and inclusion in school-related activities and recreational programs. But last year, as part of the final game for the Columbus Soccer Organization’s The Outreach Program for Soccer, a recreational sports program for children and adults with intellectual, emotional or physical disabilities to play soccer, Wake took center stage on the pitch and played games with the Mississippi University for Women’s men’s soccer team. “Wake loves attention,” Mallory told The Dispatch. “So anytime his name is called on any kind of intercom, he is all for it. Just getting to see the joy and excitement on his face (that night), I just can’t put that into words.” TOPSoccer is a national program only offered through local U.S. Youth Soccer-affiliated soccer clubs and has been offered in the Columbus area since 2010, said Tom Velek, CSO director. Velek and his wife, Cindy Buob, originally led the effort to bring the program to the area to fill what they saw as a void in recreational sports offerings for children with disabilities. “I believe very firmly that sports and athletics, particularly for youth, should not be dictated by ability or income,” Velek said. “It is too transformative of an experience to say this group (isn’t) going to be able to be involved because they have a little bit of a need, or this group can’t be involved because they don’t have the registration fee. So TopSoccer is an extension of that philosophy.” Getting the ball rolling TOPSoccer, which was revived under CSO in 2018 after the dissolution of Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority, pairs anywhere from eight to 20 athletes with a “buddy” or a volunteer who helps facilitate activities like passing a large soccer ball back and forth, shooting goals or moving the ball between cones, Buob said. Volunteers who join typically go through an hour-long training with either Velek or Buob and are given guidelines on the ins and outs of being a buddy. While the season this year was slightly delayed by a need for more volunteers, the program started the season Monday with a full pool of buddy volunteers to cover this year’s athletes, said program volunteer Haley Lee, though additional volunteers are welcome. Volunteers are assigned their athlete and given basic descriptions of their disabilities, which are either physical or cognitive disabilities like wheelchair dependency or autism, for example. (https://cdispatch.com/news/topsoccer-gives-children-with-disabilities-a-place-on-the-field/attachment/bs-top-soccer-photo2/) ()    Cindy Buob, a volunteer with Columbus Soccer Organization’s Outreach Program for Soccer, speaks with a group of six program volunteers Thursday during a training session at the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA. Each year, between eight and 20 physically or cognitively disabled children participate in CSO’s five-week TOPSoccer program, which includes games like passing a large soccer ball back and forth, shooting goals or moving the ball between cones, Buob said. Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff    All costs for the program, from field setup to medals and photos to team jerseys, are covered for participants. Mallory Baucom said that, for her, beyond the cost of the program being covered, the volunteer pairings each season always put her at ease. “If it weren’t for the buddies, it just wouldn’t be possible for Wake,” Baucom said. “He likes to (run off), so I would stay on anxiety mode and try to make sure he’s not running off, and (with the volunteers there) I’m just able to sit in my chair and watch.” Hughes Oglesby, a freshman at New Hope High School who participated as a buddy last season, said he enjoys helping players experience the joys of a sport without having to worry about their disability posing a hurdle. “(During) their day-to-day lives, they’re not always in the spotlight,” Oglesby said. “But when they come to this, it really makes them feel like they’re seen.” Velek said when volunteers sign up, they often think in terms of the impact they will have on the children, but in reality that impact goes both ways. “Working with these kids … it bridges the gap between … children without special needs, who have never engaged with a kid with special needs, and all of a sudden they have this realization that these kids are not that much different than me,” Velek said. “… In the end they’re just kids who want to have a good time. … So it’s a hugely impactful program, particularly for the young people who work with the program in the role of buddies.” (https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/copy_link?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdispatch.com%2Fnews%2Ftopsoccer-gives-children-with-disabilities-a-place-on-the-field%2F&linkname=TOPSoccer%20gives%20children%20with%20disabilities%20a%20place%20on%20the%20field) (Copy Link)  (https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdispatch.com%2Fnews%2Ftopsoccer-gives-children-with-disabilities-a-place-on-the-field%2F&linkname=TOPSoccer%20gives%20children%20with%20disabilities%20a%20place%20on%20the%20field) (Email)  (https://www.addtoany.com/share)      You can help your community Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. 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