Denise Shenefiel and Debra Fant founded the Jacob's Buddies League Adaptive Sports Program in 2010 partnering with AVYSL to offer their first Fall TOPSoccer pr0gram that fall.  They were inspired by a brave little boy they know named Jacob Wiebe who always wants to get out there and play sports whenever he can. The logistics for “Jake” are a little different than for your average athlete because Jake was diagnosed at 16 months old with a rare brain tumor called juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma or JPA and he uses a powered wheelchair to stay active. When Denise started as AVYSL Fall Recreation Program Director in 2007, she always dreamed of expanding the AVYSL Fall Recreational Soccer program to include Jake and other differently abled children. Enter Debra Fant, as AVYSL Volunteer Coordinator, who wanted to develop a quality High School Community Service program where High School volunteers could share their love for being active directly with AVYSL athletes. After batting around ideas for a bit and a lot of research, Denise and Debra decided to take the plunge and just get started. Six months later we were registering “Jacob’s Buddies” for our first TOPSoccer season!

Denise’s Journey . . .

While playing collegiate soccer at Santa Clara University, Denise Shenefiel was first introduced to special needs children when she volunteered with the Crippled Children’s Society. Her love of children inspired her to become an elementary school teacher where she developed her ability to uniquely modify things for the best needs of every child in her classroom. While teaching for many years, Denise also kept active in the soccer world coaching various individuals and teams. While pregnant with her first child, Denise was able to substitute in the Union School District Special Needs program and got a unique look at the adaptive nature of special needs classrooms. Denise has continued to work in various capacities with children of all abilities. As a Fall Recreational Soccer Coach, Denise was able to work with a wonderful boy with Downs Syndrome who was mainstreamed on her u7 and u8 teams. It was Denise who dreamed of expanding the recreation soccer program to meet the needs of these special athletes. Denise is thrilled to be facilitating this opportunity for these players and excited at the prospect of watching this program grow and evolve.

Debra’s Journey . . .

Debra learned her “can do” attitude from her large family. As the middle of five children she learned really quickly to get up and do or be waiting in line for a long time. It was Debra who did some preliminary research and convinced Denise that together they could potentially launch this special league in the fall of 2010. From the time she was born, Debra had a “Special Someone” in her life – one of her older brothers, Peter, has Downs Syndrome. As a child, she loved cheering Peter on at his extracurricular events – recitals, Special Olympics, school events. Anyone who has ever met a person with Downs Syndrome knows that they are a pretty happy bunch. Peter is always smiling, but when he was out there playing sports or participating in his other activities, he always seemed extra fulfilled. Many of these special children spend an enormous amount of time and effort at doctor and therapist appointments. Debra is thrilled that these players will get a chance to get outside and, with the help of some very special volunteer buddies, just be kids for a while.