My father works for Presbyterian Children’s Services. My mother has worked for Life Skills Foundation, Emmaus Homes, and St. Louis Arc. I have a brother and a sister that both worked for Life Skills. My sister went on to form her on respite care company for kids with developmental disabilities. One of my best friends works for Giant Steps and I work for BIS. You would think that being so immersed in the world of troubled youths and developmental disabilities would mean I am already well aware of the Special Needs Soccer Association (SPENSA), but you’d be wrong.

It took a St. Louis Post Dispatch article, of all things, to bring SPENSA to my attention. SPENSA is providing a great service to these kids ranging from 5 to 21 years old with a variety of disabilities/afflictions including Downs Syndrome, Autism, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). They’ve basically made soccer accessible to anyone in the St. Louis area with a mental or physical handicap and I cannot fully express how I cool I think this is.

SPENSA is completely free and financed through the generous donations from individuals, businesses and local soccer clubs. They play at the former Soccer Park in Fenton, currently called Anheuser Busch Conference Center, and it looks like they just finished their fall season. I’m definitely getting into this next spring though, so I’ll post something new when they start playing again.

One of the biggest needs for SPENSA and a similar organization in Southern Ill. is that they are always in need of volunteers. Some local soccer clubs are contributing their experience, but considering how fast these programs are growing they’re almost certainly going to need more volunteers. To volunteer you can email Shirley McBroom and get a schedule. I hope to see some of you out there.

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