SALT LAKE CITY — A unique soccer team is getting started. About a dozen children between the ages of 7 and 18 kicked off a new power wheelchair soccer session with a practice and scrimmage Wednesday at the Sorenson Multicultural Center.
The team's goals are to learn new skills, make new friends, and have fun playing their own version of soccer.
The power wheelchair soccer team is a collaboration between Shriners Hospital for Children, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, and Ability Found. The kids use specially modified power wheelchairs to kick off, dribble and pass the soccer ball around the indoor basketball court.
The staff at Shriners Hospital for Children refurbished chairs provided by Ability Found and attached a custom plastic basket to the front of each chair for soccer ball maneuvering. Private donors helped fund some of the team costs as well, according to a press release.