by Lem Satterfield
James Kidd Sr. recalls his first time seeing James Jr. play soccer for Parkville High.
James Jr. wasn’t playing on the Knights’ varsity. He wasn’t even playing on the school’s JV team.
But as a member of the Knights’ co-ed, Allied Soccer team, James Jr.’s passion for the game was no
less than that of any other athlete who loves the game.
“I had a ball that first game, when I got to watch him play. He was trying so hard, and you don’t always get that with other kids,” said the elder Kidd, who has coached track and other sports in the past. “It was exciting to me, and you could tell that it was exciting to all of the parents who were there that day.”
As a member of the Knights’ Allied Soccer team, James Jr. is part of a program geared toward blending every day students with those whose special needs may include dealing with physical and emotional challenges, retardation and autism.
Baltimore County’s Allied Sports program started more than a decade ago, said county athletics coordinator, Ron Belinko. Allied Sports’ teams’ rosters must be comprised “at least 50 percent” with students known to have special needs.
Soccer annually fields six-to-eight teams from as many schools, followed by softball, with 10-to-12.
But bowling, said Parkville athletic director Troy Stevenson, “is represented by over half of the schools.”
“My son is autistic, and I had been wanting to get him involved in other activities, especially athletics. But there’s usually not a lot of programs for kids with that kind of special need,” said James Kidd Sr.
“So when I found out about that program, I was excited,” said James Kidd Sr. “And once James got involved, man, you could really see a change in him. James came home and he was jsut happy and enthused about the opportunity to play soccer.”
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James Sr. was on hand to watch his son lead Parkville’s Knights against
Dundalk’s Owls on Wednesday in a game played before an enthusiastic
group, many of whom sat on a distant hill near the school’s tennis
courts.
The fans endured 80-plus degree tempratures, a warm breeze and sat beneath a clear, blue sky.
Also there was Stevenson, who will “get 20 or more kids who come out”
for Allied spring softball, a sport coached by physical education
department chairman, Karen Lock, in which Parkville is is the two-time
defending league champion.
Players “get uniforms, they have real officials, they have a real championship series and standings,” Stevenson said.
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“I”m actually more of a coach, and a father — everything but a
referee out here,” said John Kowatch (center, yellow shirt), who, at 68, is a retired teacher who has officiated Allied Soccer since its inception more than a decade ago. “But the thing is, you get so much
satisfaction from it.”
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| “For soccer, they have a ‘Halloween Bowl'” at the end of October based on standings. “I think if you’re undefeated, you might play the second placed team for a championship,” Stevenson said. |
“But everybody gets to play,” Stevenson said. “They might have a game for for third, fourth, etc. And it’s under the lights at Kenwood. The parents come out, and at the end, they all get snacks and juice.”
At Parkville, Stevenson instructs special needs athletes in physical education with the Knights’ Allied soccer coach, John Cooper, who also serves as Parkville’s boys varsity lacrosse coach.
“We love it because we have a lot of these kids in class and we’ll do the same activities,” said Stevenson, as he watched the Knights go at it against the Owls.
“A lot of them haven’t had any prior experience in sports, and when we do it in class, and you see it here, you see a big change in them. You get to watch the kids who are in regular education find something they can be attached to,” Stevenson said.
“Like if they get cut from varsity or JV, or don’t feel comfortable playing at that level,” Stevenson said. “They can come out here and really have a home.”
In the game, Parkville had its hands full with Dundalk’s Manny Smith, who held his own as a substitute for Kamil Rzany, who missed the game due to a doctor’s appointment.
“Kamil had a physical, but I think he’s the best in the county,” said Dundalk coach Frank Philpot, 61. “These kids are my family. They’re keeping me young.”
Dundalk’s John Collins, whom Philpot considers his best player, is a team captain in his third season.
“This is just for fun. I get my anger out,” said Collins, 16, who scored both of Dundalk’s goals. “We have to practice better.”
John Kowatch, 68, taught “special kids who needed help getting jobs and working in the afternoons” before retiring from his job teaching history and English at Pataspco High.
Kowatch has officiated Allied Soccer for as long as it has existed, and did so again, all by himself, on Wednesday at Parkville.
But he did so with good reason.
“I”m actually more of a coach, and a father — everything but a referee out here,” Kowatch said. “But the thing is, you get so much satisfaction from it.”
Stevenson said he most enjoys watching players develop a freedom they might not be afforded as part of varsity or junior varsity programs.
“They’ll hear their names on the intercom in the morning, and that really fires up the troops. They get a sense of winning and losing that they normally wouldn’t get,” Stevenson said.
“If you score a goal in varsity soccer, well, you’d better get back on defense,” Stevenson said. “But if you score one out here, then you can really celebrate because it might make that kid’s month.”
If that’s the case, then first-year freshman Ronnie Hamilton scored three months worth of goals in a victory over Dulaney earlier this week, as he finished with a hat trick.
“These are the best friends I’ve ever had because they pass it to me a lot,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been best friends ever since I’ve come here.”
One of Hamilton’s instructors, Annie Kelley, has seen tremendous change since he began playing soccer.
“Ronnie’s been very outgoing in class about soccer. He likes to talk about it a lot,” said Kelley, who instructs Hamilton in Parkville’s functional academic learning support program.
Wearing dark shades, Kelley watched Hamilton play while sitting on a distant bank.
“Ronnie just started this week, but it’s definitely helped his confidence,” said Kelley, adding that two of her otherstudents, junior Mason Crowe and senior Mimi Donaldson, also play for the Knights.
“They were on the announcements this week,” Kelley added. “Ronnie just believes he’s awesome at it –which he is.”
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