Gunston TOPSoccer and Nickelodeon's 'Worldwide Day of Play'

Mark Harrison, Gunston TOPSoccer head coach, has been involved with the team since its inception last fall and shares a personal connection with his players that runs far deeper than their love for the game.

TOPSoccer is a nation-wide community-based soccer program that caters specifically to children ages 4-19, who have been diagnosed with either a mental or physical disability.

“I was born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (a neurological disorder that causes muscles to contract) and was put into leg braces as a child. So I jumped at the chance to be a coach for the TOPSoccer league because they didn’t have anything like that when I was little,” said Harrison.

With the assistance of leg braces, therapy, and a special relationship with former New York Cosmos professional soccer player Giorgio Chinaglia, Harrison was able to overcome the disorder and even lettered in varsity soccer in high school. He now gives back with the hopes that others will be able to experience the same positive results that he did as a young man.

"It was a pro soccer player Giorgio Chinaglia who took to me and gave me his jersey and started taking me with the team on the bus to the stadium for their practices and sitting on the bench for games. ... It was Giorgio that inspired me towards soccer and we are still friends
today."

Saturday's Worldwide Day of Play

Nine lucky Gunston Soccer Club TOPSoccer athletes will participate in Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play on Saturday, September 24. The event, aimed at promoting physical activity among children, runs from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. and will be held at the 52-acre White House Ellipse.

Harrison, along with TOPSoccer commissioner Ted Renaud (who has two daughters on the team) and the families of the nine TOPSoccer players, will enjoy an action-packed Saturday.

Nearly two dozen Nickelodeon stars from popular television shows such as iCarly, Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants will team up with Major League Baseball, National Football League and Major League Soccer stars in efforts to promote physical activity among children.

Gunston's TOPSoccer athletes will be able to meet and interact with Nickelodeon’s and professional sports stars and also participate in soccer drills, receive coaching and play the game they enjoy with hundreds other children.  

Also as part of the event’s efforts to promote physical activity, Nickelodeon television stations and websites will be taken off-air and off-line from 12-3 p.m.

For more information on Gunston Soccer Club’s TOPSoccer, please visit: Gunston TOPSoccer.