Power Soccer

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COURTNEY WILLIAMS, HOST: From KVMR and in partnership with FREED, this is Disability Rap.

TYLER CZAPKAY: I think the thing that stand out to me in power soccer is the strategy and the pace of the game. Nothing beats when you have the ball on an open floor, and you have an opportunity to score.

WILLIAMS: Today, a conversation about the importance of sports in the disability community and the game of power soccer.

JULIE FULLER: You have to drive your chair independently. This is a sport for people who are severely disabled and don't get that opportunity to participate in a sport on their own.

WILLIAMS: That's all coming up on Disability Rap. Stay tuned.

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WILLIAMS: Welcome to Disability Rap. I'm Courtney Williams.

As summer draws near, it means hot weather and long days, but it also means the season for power soccer. Power soccer is a competitive team sport in which players maneuver power wheelchairs equipped with a specialized metal foot guard. Two teams of four players each use their wheelchairs and these foot guards to move an oversize soccer ball around a basketball court. The rules of power soccer are similar to traditional soccer, and the team that scores the most number of points after two 20-minute halves wins the game.

For more, we're joined by two guests. Tyler Czapkay is a current player of power soccer, and Julie Fuller is a former power soccer coach. Our own co-host, Alexa Guerrero, played power soccer from 2009 to 2018. Disability Rap's co-hosts Carl Sigmond and Alexa Guerrero spoke with Tyler and Julie last month.

CARL SIGMOND, HOST: Well, Tyler and Julie, welcome to Disability Rap. It's great to have both of you on the show. We want to begin by asking both of you how you got involved in power soccer. Julie, we'll begin with you.

FULLER: I've been with BORP Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Sports since 1986. I'm in my mid-40s. I've been with them for quite a while. A little bit of history here. I started doing basketball and went through a career there, in a couple of other sports. I was also an assistant coach, and it just so happened that I went away to college, and I got my first power chair, and then came back, I guess, for summer and did a coaching stint for the basketball program. They practiced in the mornings. Then I noticed the way the whole program is run, basketball in the morning and then power soccer in the afternoon.

I was able to take off from coaching the basketball practice and take a bus home, eat by the lunch, and come back with my power chair and try out power soccer. I had my basketball jersey retired and wanted to check out a second career. Selfishly, I wanted to see if I could possibly get another jersey number retired, but maybe we'll get into this more. Sadly, my power soccer career was only about a year, not even a full competitive year. I'm visually impaired. I had a cataract in my good eye, and they found out that I was doing power soccer, which can be a contact sport. They said, "What the heck are you doing playing power soccer? You need to shut that down right away."

Unfortunately, I had to make that notice, had to notify my team, and switched into coaching.

SIGMOND: Thank you, Julie. Tyler, I want to ask you the same question. How did you get involved, and what drew you to the sport?

CZAPKAY: I got involved around 2014, back when you had the Quickies with a team called Sac Republic, run by Margo and Paul, [unintelligible 00:05:56]. I've been playing for about 11 years now. I've played for Sacramento, Chico, and so I'm just-- I'm currently with San Francisco.

SIGMOND: What draws you to play?

CZAPKAY: I'm just a competitor. I'm really competitive at all things. I think the main thing is just the competition, but also, too, it's the camaraderie within the team. I've always been really into sports. I always tell myself, from the time that I was eight years old, if I ever got the opportunity to just be competitive, I would do it to the best of my ability, and always give 110%.

ALEXA GUERRERO, CO-HOST: There are many wheelchair sports out there. What made power soccer stand out to you? Let's start with Tyler.

CZAPKAY: Actually, if I had use of both hands, I would probably play wheelchair basketball. I think the thing that stands out to me in power soccer is the strategy and the pace of the game. Nothing beats when you have the ball on an open floor and you have an opportunity to score. Nothing beats coming together as a team to achieve a goal, either. I think those are the two main things.

GUERRERO: Julie, the same question for you.

FULLER: I agree with Tyler. As I said already, I played basketball. I pretty much play-- I did push my chair with one hand. I was the slowest person. I couldn't shoot a basket for [unintelligible 00:08:22]. I was the defensive specialist and helped my teammates get open. Switching to power soccer, it was a sport-- Growing up with sports, there were those parents who wanted to be on the court and actually push their kids. Speaking in real life circumstances, the parents aren't always going to be there to help the kids, so they need to learn how to do it on their own. Like I said, I was watching power soccer as they were starting to get ready for their practices, and I said, "Let me try this out," and now, I have a power chair.

I had the Quickie P-200. Maybe we'll get into this as we go on. There are a lot of differences between the P-200 and now the Strike Forces. I saw that, and I'm still connected to power soccer, and hearing experience from other people, that power soccer, you have to drive your chair independently. This is a sport for people who are severely disabled and don't get that opportunity to participate in a sport on their own. Power soccer does let them participate in the sport on their own, under their own power. Like Tyler was saying, the importance of being part of a team and working together as that team to accomplish a goal and do well in a game, and it builds from there.

SIGMOND: Thank you both. I want to go back and ask about your experience of sports growing up. You both have disabilities. Were you included in sports in elementary school and up? What were those experiences like, or the experiences of exclusion? Tyler, we'll begin with you.

CZAPKAY: When I was growing up, I'd say probably about third grade, I got asked to be an honorary member on an AAU team with a bunch of my friends. For about from third grade till about eighth grade, we would go to tournaments around the country, and it was just really fun because I love sports and I have good knowledge of sports too. It was just nice to be included in something, even though I couldn't play. I also got a jersey. Then that continued till I was about a sophomore in high school. In terms of competitive sports and stuff like that, that's really where I got my start in inclusion.

SIGMOND: Thank you. Julie, how about you?

FULLER: I joined BORP when I was about eight years old. I remember growing up, participating as best as I could in sports, but I was the only one with a physical disability. I remember they do that annual, once-a-year fitness test and have you do pull-ups and sit-ups. There was no modification. I struggled to do maybe one pull-up or one sit-up. It really did become-- We had to find an alternative that I could participate in. BORP came around, I was one of the, tooting my own horn a little bit, I was one of the first children in the youth program, Youth Wheelchair Basketball team.

Even looking at some 40 years later, that was my opportunity to participate in sports, going to tournaments, basketball tournaments, track tournaments. That was my opportunity to participate in sports. I went to a small private school, and like I said, I was the only person with a physical disability, so I did feel on the outside. People within the BORP community did become my outlet to participate in sports equally and with my own peers.

GUERRERO: Thank you, Julie. My next question is for both of you again. What is your favorite memory of power soccer? We can start with Tyler.

CZAPKAY: I think for me, about four years in, it would have to be my first experience going to the national tournament and seeing all these teams from across the country and just getting to compete and experience new things and see teams try different strategies. I also won my first medal in 2019. We won a silver medal in the bottom conference, which is called the Founders Conference. That's probably my favorite memory in all my years playing power soccer.

GUERRERO: Thank you. What about you, Julie?

FULLER: Like I said, I only had less than a year of competitive competition. I didn't even get to finish a full complete power soccer season. I think it was a regional tournament down San Jose. I forget where exactly. Memories are fading. Our team was tied with the other team, and it went to penalty kicks. We had our superstar athlete. I forget what the rules were, but I think everybody got to take a penalty kick until you scored.

Putting that pressure on myself, I remember having that panic of, I think, we were [unintelligible 00:16:51] three to a team or something. I was the second person up to make that shot. Just still learning the game and learning how to do the spin kick. Like I said, having a visual impairment didn't help, but just that extra pressure of wanting to do my best and wanting to be the hero in the game and just psyching up for the spin kick, kicking as hard as I could, and then following up, but the goalie got to it. That was the end of the play, but just that psyching myself up, "I got this, I'm doing well, I've got to be the hero."

I think one of my other teammates did a good penalty kick and perhaps won it for us, but I don't remember. Just the experience of going to my first regional tournament and being put in that position where I could be the hero. Unfortunately, it didn't play out that way for me.

SIGMOND: Thank you both. I'm wondering if you both can describe more of the mechanics of the game for people who have never seen it or played it. You have these metal foot guards that attach to your chairs that ride very low to the ground. They are used to kick a soccer ball. Can you talk more about the mechanics? Then I hear people can run into each other. What is that like?

CZAPKAY: The mechanics are quite interesting, actually. There's a thing called a spin kick where you start backwards and spin and hit. Then there's a certain speed limit to be at for testing during games. Then what else? Let me see. There's just no double-teaming in the sport. That's also interesting. Then, when somebody hits you, you definitely feel it. The impact reverberates through your cage, up to your body. Sometimes it can be jarring for sure. Sometimes it can daze you for a few seconds. I think as long as you're pretty tough, you're pretty resilient, you want to keep going, you can handle it pretty well. If it's really big, you might have to sit for a second. I think it just depends on the person, really.

SIGMOND: For people who don't know, could you explain what a spin kick is and then how you dribble, then what double-teaming is.

CZAPKAY: A spin kick is like when you hit the ball with the side of your cage instead of hitting it with the front on a shot. Then double teaming is, usually, it's just a one-on-one three-stop game, but sometimes there can be probably- were two players and one player on defense versus offense. Sometimes you can even do 180, which is the opposite way around.

SIGMOND: Great. Julie, what do have to add?

FULLER: The importance of that spacing. You want to be able to space yourself out on floor. There are three players. There's usually a center and two wings. They are supposed to stay in their lane, per se, or communicate with their teams. There's a lot of moving parts. Another important aspect of this game is communication. If you want to come into somebody's lane, you have to communicate. "Okay, center, you go over to my place." The emphasis is on making quick and accurate passes. I've heard it described to me. It's like pinball on steroids. The higher groups, they just pass, pass, pass, pass, and really work on that strategy. Maybe they have some set plays in order to kick it past the goalie.

SIGMOND: Got it. Thank you. Julie, you've mentioned BORP a number of times. You say you've been with BORP for decades. Can you talk more about BORP as an institution and the role it plays in the disability community in the Bay Area?

FULLER: You're asking a loaded question there, Carl. Yes, I've been with BORP for a good 40 years. Tooting BORP's own horn, they are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. Like you said, they have been around for decades. I think back then, they were the only organization within the Bay Area that came from a model. I believe it came from UC Berkeley Cal, a bunch of people wanted to get together and play adaptive sports.

I know now that their teams in San Jose and Sacramento, as far as power soccer, and the same probably goes for basketball, but back in the day, we were the organization that took, first of all, adults and let them play wheelchair basketball. Then the model came around, I think in '85, let's target the kids. Let's get a kids' program started. Like I said, I was one of the first year youth participants. Many people probably reach out to BORP as a start if you're in the East Bay or North Bay. I think we have had people from Sacramento before they got up and going, come down to the Bay Area, Berkeley, for adaptive sports.

I'm glad to see that other organizations, like I said, Sacramento, San Jose, likely others, are taking BORP's model and running with it and developing their own programs because I do feel that, like we said, power soccer is the only other sport, as far as I know, that can be played just by the athlete themselves and not with somebody's help. It's good to see that other cities, other organizations are letting the athletes discover sports and play them on their own.

GUERRERO: Thank you. I want to take a moment to go back to the mechanics of playing power soccer. I'm curious what strategies you use to communicate with teammates who are nonverbal on the court. We can start with Julie.

FULLER: Again, you're asking me to jog my memory. I think it was we would come up with set plays. We'd call out play three and try and do a lot of journaling with our athletes of what play three meant. We would call out a play and maybe point to the nonverbal athlete and say, "You need to go there. You need to be in this position on the court," or even if they were directing the play, if they could make a grunt, certain verbal grunt meant this cue, which meant that play. That's an interesting question. I think that's what I tried to do.

GUERRERO: How about you, Tyler?

CZAPKAY: I think all Julie's points are great. I wanted to add on to it and say in the higher levels, like the premier level, the higher level teams that you deal with in the conference that I'm in, it can't always be verbal ones because some teams will just pick up on cues. What I like to do personally is myself and my team, we use a lot of hand signals. We use a lot of misdirection in order to get the set pieces to go where we want them to go. In that way, it's better for execution all around.

GUERRERO: Thank you. My next question is, what kind of advice would you give somebody who is just starting to play power soccer?

CZAPKAY: I would say, just make sure you have fun first, when you're first starting out. Figure out what kind of team you want to be on, what situation best fits you. Also, too, don't be so hard on yourself. You can make mistakes early on, but the more you stick with it, the more you'll improve.

GUERRERO: Thank you. What about you, Julie? What advice would you give to a new player?

FULLER: I come from the background, like I said, where I started out with the P-200, which is a pretty good everyday chair, and you can use it for soccer. Slowly after I joined, the Strike Force did come into play. This was something that I was working on with BORP and with my team, and maybe we'll get into it. We wanted to have a non-Strike Force team tournament. We wanted a tournament where you didn't have to have a Strike Force. For those who don't know, I forget the price, but it's very expensive. Their specific chair is called Strike Force, which you have turn and they require a lot of-- They turn quicker and are speedier. It seems like everybody, in order to play power soccer, you have to have this chair.

Jonathan, who was the team manager for our team, a mentor for me within BORP, he and I wanted to have a tournament where you didn't have to go out and purchase this expensive chair, and make opportunities for those who didn't have, perhaps, the coordination for Strike Force. Going back to my playing days, and just beyond, go meet with a team, as Tyler said, pick their brains. Soak in a practice. Get time. If you're just starting out and have access to a P-200 or an everyday chair, just try out the game, but more so, maybe just get familiar with your own chair in a regular setting, everyday use, become more comfortable with your regular chair.

Like I said, the Strike Force, you should probably try it. If you get a Strike Force, and they are really expensive, try and buddy up with someone who has a Strike Force and ask questions about how to use it. Maybe if you can, try and steal time in the court. I've heard that you shouldn't beat around town in your Strike Force, because it will beat the chair up, and they're really meant for indoor sports only. If you have access to a basketball court and can take an hour and just get familiar with the differences between the two chairs, because they are really different. How to safely do a swing kick. How to do a kick-in. How to dribble. Like Tyler said, it's going to take repetition. It's going to take time, in whatever chair you use, to become comfortable with the new skills you're learning in power soccer.

GUERRERO: Thank you. My next question is again for both of you, and we can start out with Tyler. For those who are interested in checking out the game, where can they find a game in their area or a televised game?

CZAPKAY: In my area, specifically, there's a team called Sacramento Republic that's actually sponsored by a second-level pro division soccer team, and they're currently looking for new players. If you're [unintelligible 00:35:30] for something interested in, and you're a super competitive person, and you love sports, I would recommend checking that out. As far as TV goes, there's not really TV, TV, but there's live streams on YouTube all the time for Conference Cup, or nationals, as they call it. There's replays in national games, as well, that you can find on powersoccershop.com. That should cover everything you're looking for, and start watching the game.

GUERRERO: Julie, would you like to add anything?

FULLER: Was that the United States Power Soccer Association? I forgot their exact website, but if you look that up. Again, I don't follow. I guess I still get emails from the USPSA, so I'm somewhat aware that nationals are coming up. I try and poke them on Facebook and get a link to watch nationals. Again, promoting BORP. You can go to borp.org. Like I've said, we do a variety of sports, but I think they have a link for describing what power soccer is. I think they still practice on Saturdays, as that's their usual routine. Like I said, I don't want to volunteer on a weekly basis, as I was doing, but I do still stick my neck in there periodically.

The person overseeing the whole program has indicated that our local team, the BORP Soccer, and likely-- I don't know what all the other teams are, but they do have a local tournament coming up at our gym on the 16th and 17th. I've gone back, and I've volunteered to run the scoreboard for a basketball tournament recently. I connected with a contact there and asked her if I could run the scoreboard. I like running the scoreboard because you get hands-on right there. You see the plays right in front of you, action. That will be the 16th and 17th of May. I'm actually looking forward to running the scoreboard for a couple of the games.

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WILLIAMS: That was Carl and Alexa's conversation with Julie Fuller and Tyler Czapkay for our show about the sport of power soccer.

That does it for the show. Disability Rap is produced and edited by Carl Sigmond and me, Courtney Williams. You can go to our website, disabilityrap.org, to listen to past shows, read transcripts, and subscribe to the Disability Rap podcast. You can also subscribe to our podcast by searching Disability Rap on any of the major podcast platforms. We're brought to you by KVMR in partnership with FREED, and we're distributed by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. For Carl Sigmond and Alexa Guerrero, I'm Courtney Williams with another edition of Disability Rap.

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