TOPSoccer program thriving in Sandpoint

SANDPOINT - 10 year-old Isaiah Watts pulls his socks over his shin guards, puts on his soccer cleats, and pulls his orange TOPSoccer jersey over his head.

“Mom, do I look like a soccer player?” he asks.

Watts is one of 19 members of TOPS - The Outreach Program for Soccer - ranging in age from 5-25 years-old. The program is in its second year in Sandpoint, with burgeoning success, and thrives on one basic tenant.

“Expanding soccer to everyone,” says Sandpoint Soccer Association board member and TOPS coordinator Carrie Logan. “Just people out having a good time.”

Logan had high praise for coach Brice Filippini, who coaches the team every Friday, often with the help of some Striker volunteers. While the athletes' abilities run the gamut, Filipinni coaches them the only way he knows how, as soccer players.

“He's phenomenal,” says Logan of Filippini. “He knows the game so well and is an excellent teacher. He runs it just like he runs a Strikers practice - the kids learn.”

The season runs concurrent with the rest of the SSA teams, with the team meeting every Friday through June 13. Some of the TOPS players eventually play SSA soccer, using the experience as a springboard into competitive soccer.

Watts, whose legs bend slightly inward, hopes to play SSA in the future as well. Friday at Farmin-Stidwell, he was blasting balls into the back of the net harder than his mom had ever seen him kick. She says he absolutely loves the feeling of being on a team and maintains a top notch perspective.

“He gets to be with other children and gets to feel like he's not the only one with problems,” says his mom, Sarah Harris, sharing something Isaiah told her recently. “He says ‘everyone's got problems, but God works through it in his own way.'”