Kicks for Kids holds ‘Spring Season Finale’
USC Kicks For Kids held its season finale at McCarthy Quad on Sunday to conclude its spring soccer season.
For the kids · Participants surround Zade Shakir, the founder and president of Kicks for Kids, during Sunday’s event at McCarthy Quad. – Austin Vogel | Daily Trojan
Kicks For Kids is a service organization that promotes an active lifestyle among children with physical and developmental disabilities.
The season finale of Kicks for Kids brought out hundreds of kids and volunteers. Representatives from the LA Galaxy professional soccer team also came to volunteer and play with participants. Maria Soto said her son Alex Soto is a big fan of the team and was excited by the chance to meet the players.
“He really enjoys soccer and this, for him, is like heaven,” she said. “He wants to wear the Galaxy T-shirt he has every single day.”
Soto’s son has been attending Kicks For Kids for nearly a year and looks forward to getting the chance to play soccer every weekend. She says the program has been a great outlet for Alex and wants to see the program continue to grow in the future.
“I hope they can keep up with the program,” Soto said. “Not only for my son, but other kids as well. They see my son doing it, and they want to come too. It’s good because they’re kids who haven’t been able to play soccer before.”
USC senior Zade Shakir, founder and president of Kicks for Kids, found the inspiration to start Kicks For Kids when he was volunteering at Spirits in Action last year. While volunteering, he met an autistic boy named Eric who wasn’t able to participate in mainstream athletic programs because of his disability. Shakir set out to create a program that would give all children the same opportunities.
“As much as these kids love to play soccer, they don’t really have a place to play,” Shakir said. “That really bothered me. As a kid, I was an avid soccer player, and it was a big part of my life. It was where I made all of my friends and had all of my fun as a child.”
Aside from providing special needs kids with a place to play sports, Shakir also wanted to provide a healthy lifestyle. Kicks For Kids provides healthy snacks and encourages its participants to be more active in their daily lives.
“I wanted to provide a place where kids like Eric could come and play without fear of being bullied or feeling left out,” Shakir said. “It had to be free for families. The hope is that the program can inspire a movement away from the current trend where 38 percent of children with a physical or developmental disability are obese or overweight.”
Shakir says the response to Kicks For Kids from the participants’ families has been overwhelmingly positive. Because of the great feedback, Kicks For Kids has continued to grow. The program is currently in the process of becoming a national nonprofit, and Shakir plans to expand the program to other universities across the country, such as Stanford University.
“The chief interest in mind is helping those in the margins or those who don’t have the same access I had growing up,” Shakir said. “That’s a big reason why I’m doing Kicks For Kids … I really want to be a part of trying to be that change reversing that trend.”