Almost by osmosis, Angela Ashton learned to love the game of soccer.

Yet for as much as the wife of former soccer professional Brian Ashton came to dub herself as a “sideline supporter of soccer”, her true passion lie elsewhere.

The energy in her voice skyrockets as she talks about “her kids” – not the three off-spring that she and Brian have welcomed to the world, though they are clearly extra special to the Ashtons – but rather those youngsters who are under the care of the pretty much life-long special needs teacher, in her day-to-day profession.

The convergence of her worlds has made for a history-making offering as Ashton and a host of wonderful volunteers teamed up with the Sudburnia Soccer Club, this summer, to create a special needs soccer program, capturing a wide range of local youth who face challenges both physically and cognitively.

For a woman who has seen soccer played at an ultra high level – Brian would spend six years with the Toronto Lynx, voted as Fan Favourite player on five occasions – this initiative seemed like such a natural next step for her.

“When we got married, I knew that I was going to do the teaching thing and Brian was going to do his soccer thing – and then we had kids and I was watching our kids progress through soccer,” stated Angela. “But at work, I was always trying to find things that the kids could do.”

“I had always had soccer as part of my gym class and what I found was that the kids listened and loved it. I had been talking about it (starting a summer special needs soccer program) and talking about it and finally said: this year, I am not going to coach my own kid. I am going to coach over here.”

The rewards are bountiful, for all those involved.

As she paints the picture, one quickly senses that there is both a need to go with the flow, in this environment, but also to appreciate all of the small wins, recognizing how much little things, actions that might seem trivial can make a huge difference in the life of a youngster.

“The first day was chaos, but organized chaos,” said Ashton with a smile. “We had to identify who can follow some of the directions. It was a really interesting first day.”

“Nobody had a place for these kids to go and have fun that is structured – and when I say structured, as much as we have a plan going in, it never actually works out that way. But you try and put everything in place, just in case.”

The setting is nothing if not a breeding ground of support, mirroring the values that Ashton and others espouse on a daily basis, during the school year, working with students they hold so dear to their hearts.

“We try and do everything as a family unit,” she noted. “It may sound ridiculous, but that is how I run my classroom with these kids as well. We take care of everybody, we help everybody. We need people who are trained to be with these kids, and with the right mindset with regards to flexibility and things.”

The wins occur on a weekly basis.

Parker, one of the athletes involved with the program, is now one of the leaders, assisting Ashton and cohorts in a variety of ways. Parents move their chairs along the sidelines, cheering on each and every one of the participants in the weekly sessions that take place every Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m. at the James Jerome Sports Complex.

With a starting point now established, Angela Ashton dreams of what might be, how this idea that has been germinating in her mind might blossom in time.

“Right now, you are going to get agility drills, you are going to get passing and ball skills – but we don’t have enough kids to run ever small-sided games,” she said.

“My hope is that within four to five years, we might.”

For more information, kindly contact Sudburnia Soccer Club at sudburniasocceracademy@gmail.com