Football League Helps Lower Bucks County Kids With Disabilities

Provided from the November 2015 Neshaminy School District Update Newsletter: 

On an unseasonably warm fall morning, a gentle breeze flowing across the field at Heartbreak Ridge at Neshaminy High School toward a line of trees blazing with bright orange and red leaves, varsity football players and volunteers from Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Bensalem, Council Rock North, Bristol, Calvary Christian and other nearby schools gathered on the field not to square off but to join together as mentors and friends for a very special group of young players.

Each Sunday from September until late November, the Challenger football league brings young players with a variety of special needs out to practice and play for a couple of hours with some of the best high school players from Lower Bucks County with help from volunteer coaches and parents. About 50 Challenge players ranging in age from elementary school to high school showed up on this early November day, and though they arrive with a variety of physical and developmental disabilities, they practice together during the first hour and then play a short scrimmage during the second hour separated only by age at opposite ends of the gridiron.

Players are matched with a high school player ‘buddy,’ who stays with them throughout the session. Some of these buddies have been volunteering with the league for several seasons and built lasting relationships with their protégés. The league is non-competitive, stressing the building of basic skills (running, passing, kicking, defense), teamwork and positive relationships.

Many elements of a high school football game are also part of the Challenger games – including a cheer squad made up of about 15 special needs children led by Neshaminy High School cheerleaders. The snack stand is open at halftime, stocked and operated by parent volunteers from the Neshaminy ‘N Club’ football boosters. Players regularly participate in ceremonies at Neshaminy High School varsity home games, including singing the National Anthem and on-field introductions to the crowd. Players get team jerseys and gear featuring their team name (The Mustangs), and celebrate the end of each season with a banquet. The league holds various fund-raisers during the year help cover the cost of the banquet and some of the team extras.

The Challenger program is operated under the auspices of the Pop Warner youth football program, and was brought to Neshaminy nine years ago after then-NHS head coach Mark Schmidt saw a Challenger program at North Penn High School and wanted to bring something similar to Lower Bucks. He approached Joan Wargo, then a special education teacher with Neshaminy and asked if something similar could be done here. Along with her husband Bob, a Bensalem High School history teacher and football coach at Maple Point and Neshaminy, they started the league with 10 players. Though both are now retired, they have grown the program as co-directors, increasing the number of players, volunteers and schools involved.

“A lot of kids have come through here over nine years,” said Bob before the game. “The high school kids learn a lot about kids with special needs – everybody has strengths, everybody has weakness, you don’t dwell on these things but accept people for what they are. They work together and learn a lot from each other.”

Sandy Spong, a math learning support teacher at Neshaminy HS, has been working with the Wargos as a coach for the Challenger league since the beginning. She is also the adviser for the ‘Change it Up Club’ at NHS, which hosts various events throughout the year for the special needs community.

“We’re using this community base here to reach out and they are coming to the club events,” she said. “We have a Halloween party, a Christmas party, a Valentines party, various social events. That’s what the parents want and it’s great to see the relationships between the kids develop.”

Sandi is joined by her husband and children as volunteers in the Challenge league.

Parent Pauline Coombs has brought her special needs son Alex to Challenger games every year since he was in elementary school when the league started.

“It’s a awesome program. People come out, they volunteer, they bring football players from all over,” Pauline said. “They are loving and kind to the kids, they play together, they work together, it’s a very good program.”