Boy with Down Syndrome runs for TD in HS game

[Hawkeye]

Rivals High - Special play: Boy with Down syndrome runs for TD in HS game

That's what sportsmanship is all about. Never forget that.

[jjflr]

very cool. thanks for posting this.

[Tronix]

That was awesome..the other team gave up a shut out, so the young man could have his moment..This is so refreshing compared to debating D-bag's doing d-bag stuff all the time.

[Chicky]

This give me a ton of hope for my little guy with Autism. Kudos to the other team, character goes a long way.

[Wolverine]

That's freakin' awesome. I can't believe people aren't positive about it because it isn't in the spirit of the game.

It's a freshman football game.. Who cares if the other team let him score? This isn't about the spirit of the game. What the Dad said is spot on.

[BigBenCan7]

That's freakin' awesome. I can't believe people aren't positive about it because it isn't in the spirit of the game.

It's a freshman football game.. Who cares if the other team let him score? This isn't about the spirit of the game. What the Dad said is spot on.

The only thing I could see as a negative about this is that the kid could see it as the other team patronizing him, but I'm pretty sure scoring a touchdown was much more important to him.

Thanks for posting this Hawkeye.

[william00777]

The only thing I could see as a negative about this is that the kid could see it as the other team patronizing him, but I'm pretty sure scoring a touchdown was much more important to him.

Thanks for posting this Hawkeye.

They did somewhat pursue him but really it depends on his mental development level. If he has the mental capacity of a 6yr old (very likely for a freshman) If his genetic disorder is more mild than I could see him feeling that way but I would hope his team mates, coach, and family have a good enough understanding of him to know if that would be a problem.

I love stories like this, it's the opposite of stories like that team that scored 100-0. You don't have to do things like this in sports, it's special when you do though. Not just for that kid but everyone around. Like Chicky said it gives other families hope in the kindness and consideration of others. It shows those kids how something so small can be a big deal to other people. And again as Chicky said it teaches character. maybe later on in life one or several of the people in the game, in the stands, or even people like us that are just reading about it will think back to it and make a good decision because of it.

[Parrish]

That is one of the best things I've seen in along time.

[wootah]

Great story. Nice gesture by the coach of the opposing team. I'm coaching a soccer team of 13 year olds myself here in Belgium, and my team exists mostly out of first year players. This means that some of the more experienced opposing teams are just too much to handle for us. It happened at least five times last year that opposing coaches, while beating us 10-0 or 13-0 or whatever, decide to let their goalkeeper join the attack during corner kicks and free kicks. This makes me furious every single time. I could understand it if he would switch his GK for another player so he could get a chance to score, but just leaving the goal empty and adding the GK as an extra attacker is such a humiliating thing to do. I'm always tempted to say something about it after the game, but I let it pass; just the fact that the he does it, shows he has no clue.

A lot of coaches have forgotten (or have never known?) what youth sports is all about. Again, nice job by both coaches in this case.

[Hawkeye]

This story had me choked up when I read it. It's nice to see the proper display of sportsmanship once in awhile. This young man was told that he would have to do what the other kids did in practice if he was going to go out for the team. Even though he couldn't fulfill all the physical requirements, he was still learning. There are a lof of life lessons to be learned in sports and I think he was seeing one here. There was a good lesson on that last play: Don't worry about what other people do (other team)......just go out and do what you're supposed to (run the play) to the best of your ability. He definitely did that.

It's not about what you're given in life, it's what you do with it.