Post by ALLISA on Oct 16, 2004 21:47:56 GMT -5
hey all.... this was in my paper this week.... made me feel lucky to live in a town with such generous teenagers !
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Boy with Down syndrome scores big on school team
By Bill Burt
Sports editor
It was a Thursday afternoon on a practice field. The North Andover High freshmen boys soccer team was playing Methuen with about 30 fans looking on.
North Andover's Joe Ragone dribbled past the flailing Methuen defense and booted the ball into the bottom right side of the net, past the diving goalie.
Joe, 15, skipped and hopped his way to the center of the field, arms raised, hugging and high-fiving everyone in sight, including a few Methuen High players.
For the record, Joe's goal didn't count. But for Ragone and everyone who witnessed it, it was as sweet as a World Cup clincher.
Ragone, who has Down syndrome, spent a month going through all of the practice routines, including sprints and drills. This was his first "game," which was really staged at half-time.
"Joe's goal was the best I've ever seen," said North Andover freshmen boys coach Kyle Wood, who has played and coached a few thousand soccer games in his life. "I got real emotional. And when I turned around on the bench, I saw more than few kids with tears in their eyes."
It was much more than what Barbara Ragone expected when she approached coach Wood a month earlier about the prospects of her son playing on the team.
She had hoped Joe, her youngest of four children, could be part of the team, practice here and there, doing something he loves.
"I told him I could get Special Ed (department) involved to help if he needed help," Barbara Ragone said. "But Kyle said he didn't need any help, that Joe could be part of the team, no strings attached. I was floored."
Since Joe was 3, Barbara and Charlie Ragone have gone out of their trying to get Joe into the mainstream and a little independence. It started with nursery school at age 3 and continued on in later years on sports fields.
"Sports are a big part of all our children's lives," Barbara Ragone said. "Joe has always been involved with Special Olympics. He swims at the YMCA. He's a pretty active kid."
This, though, was a different venture. This was participating with bigger, faster and stronger "normal" kids.
Coach Wood immediately instituted a schedule for one of his 30 players to meet with Joe after school and get him to the locker room to change and then practice.
It apparently was not a problem finding volunteers.
"I've been going to school with him since second grade (at Sargent School). He's always been my friend. He's probably the happiest kid I know," said teammate T.J. Serrano. "Everyone here loves Joe. Having him here is no problem at all. In fact, we want him here."
Well, there was one problem. Joe didn't play in the first five games. And he wasn't happy about it.
"I told him that there are always kids on the bench, in every sport, that don't get to play all the time," Barbara Ragone said of her son. "But like any kid, he didn't want to hear that."
At the Methuen game last week, T.J. Serrano informed coach Wood that Joe was crying on the bench because he wasn't playing.
"We had to do something," Wood said. "Before the game I had spoken to the coach. He seemed like a good guy. So before the half ended, I went over to their sidelines and said, 'I've got to ask you for a huge favor.'
"I told him about Joe and told him it would mean the world to Joe and I if we could let him score before the start of the second half," said Wood. "He said 'Absolutely.'"
While some fans from Methuen didn't understand initially what was transpiring, it didn't take long for everyone at the field that day to understand something special was happening.
By the time Joe was halfway to the goal with the ball near his foot, everyone on both sidelines, players and fans alike, were cheering.
When the ball went into the net those cheers turned to tears.
"It was the greatest sporting event I've ever been to," said Renee Serrano, mother of T.J. "I still get chills thinking about that goal. We were all crying, even the Methuen parents. I told coach Wood after the game that my son has learned more playing on this team and I thanked him for it."
While Joe's goal may not have counted, his teammates say it may have been the turning point of the match.
North Andover trailed at half-time, 2-0. In the second half, the team scored a season-high four goals to win, 4-3.
"Joe has taught a lot of us about judging people just by the way they look," said Brian Meikle, a teammate. "I remember being afraid of him when I was in fourth grade. Now he belongs here. He's a part of this team as much as anyone. It wouldn't be the same without him."
Joe got to play again during the half-time of the North Andover-Newburyport match last week.
It was a blessing for Barbara and her husband Charlie, who missed their son's goal against Methuen because they got lost en route to the game.
"His grandmother (Anne Gallagher) was able to get there, too. She was had tears in her eyes watching Joe," Barbara Ragone said. "I am so thankful to coach Wood and the North Andover School System. Joe has been on Cloud Nine.
"He brings so much joy to everybody," she said. "He makes us realize why we're here."
That was wonderful !!!!!!!!!!! Although I too found myself wiping my eyes to raad the rest of it..What a wonderful show of sportsmanship, compassion, and friendship. Thanks for sharing that...Nice to know that there is still goodness out there.
&
Susan, Proud mom of Michael (32), Justin (25) Emily (22ds), and Jordan (20).
