Somerville Recreation Cancels Funding for 'Kick with Care'

Sidekick Soccer Academy has been forced to cancel its ‘Kick with Care’ program for children with special needs and adults with disabilities as a result of Somerville Recreation’s decision to not honor its agreement with the organization.

“To say that everyone associated with the program is sad and disappointed would be an understatement,” said Zach Rocha, Director of Sidekick Soccer Academy. “This program has affected so many people in the Somerville community in such a positive way. Most of all, we are most upset for the players and their families, who have clearly benefited so greatly from ‘Kick with Care.’”

‘Kick with Care’ is an outreach program whereby modifications to the game of soccer are provided so that children with special needs or anxiety and adults with disabilities can enjoy the world’s most popular game on a weekly basis.

On the heels of a successful inaugural spring season at Winter Hill Community School earlier this year, ‘Kick with Care’ was green-lit by Somerville Recreation to receive financial funding and facility support for a year.

‘Kick with Care’ began as a fully supported program during the summer with a six-week session at Capuano Field (also known as Glen Park). The plan – which was agreed to in principle by Somerville Recreation – was to hold a series of six-week sessions throughout the year. In all, Sidekick Soccer Academy and Somerville Recreation agreed to hold 36 weeks of ‘Kick with Care’ programming over the course of 52 weeks.

“As we prepared for the fall season, we received resistance from Somerville Recreation and were not told a reason why. We were forced to find our own facility at the last minute, which, thankfully we were able to through the Department of Conservation and Recreation at Draw Seven Park,” said Rocha. “We then had to approach the Mayor’s Office directly in order to receive our agreed-upon funding. When the fall season came to a close, we offered to run the program free of funding – basically just provide us with a facility – and were told no. When we tried to rent a facility, we were told that we could pay up front for the cost of a gymnasium but that there was no guarantee we wouldn’t be bumped from the gymnasium at a moment’s notice for another program.

“Our program has been professionally run and enjoyed by everyone who has participated – players, families and coaches alike. We’ve only seen growth since we started in the spring. To have to inform the participants and everyone who donated their time that we were being forced to cancel it in Somerville was the hardest, most painful news I’ve ever had to deliver while director of Sidekick Soccer Academy.”

‘Kick with Care’ was born out of a void left by Somerville Recreation previously. While a student-athlete at Lesley University in Cambridge, Rocha saw a flyer for a TOPSoccer program being run in Somerville. TOPSoccer is the US Youth Soccer sponsored program for children with mental and physical disabilities. Having already begun his career in coaching, he decided to see what the program was all about.

“I loved it. I saw how far a high-five goes. I attended every session I could while I was in the Boston area,” Rocha said.

Rocha’s coaching career eventually took him to Anna Maria College near Worcester where he was the head men’s coach and introduced his players to TOPSoccer through a coaching clinic that was filmed on campus and broadcast worldwide on Fox Soccer Channel. He also attended a US Power Chair Soccer event with his players in Auburn.

He returned to the Boston area at the turn of last year and was surprised at the news he heard from a friend.

“I contacted John Teves – who was the director of the Somerville TOPSoccer program – to see if he was still running the program as myself and some of my interns at Sidekick had an interest in helping with coaching,” said Rocha. “John told me that, unfortunately, the TOPSoccer program was not currently in existence. But he added that he received at least one phone call or e-mail per week with former participants wanting to know when it would be re-started. When he told me that, I said, ‘Let’s create something.’ And that’s how ‘Kick with Care’ was born.”

‘Kick with Care’ is different from TOPSoccer in that while it does serve children with mental and physical disabilities, the program also welcomes children who don’t have a medically diagnosed condition.  ‘Kick with Care’ also encompasses a program for adults with disabilities – something that makes it very unique.

Most adult players in Somerville have come from the Walnut Street Center.

“A lot of these adults have one form of (weekly) activity and (‘Kick with Care’) allows them to have another activity,” said Teves. “They get to interact with other adults and they get to play the wonderful game of soccer.”

In addition to Rocha and Teves, the ‘Kick with Care’ coaching staff has included current student-athletes from Somerville High School, Lesley University, and former college players, as well just members of the community with limited soccer experience willing to give a helping hand.

“’Kick with Care’ is truly a beautiful program that has warmed all of our hearts. We have had interest from the communities of Spencer, Newton, Lexington and Arlington to create programs with them, but this is where it started and this displaces the players and families who we’ve become so close to,” said Rocha, who now lives in Somerville, where Teves also resides.

~Press release from Sidekick Soccer Academy