CP Soccer Atlanta program helps kids with cerebral palsy get in the game

Lindsay Kraun’s love for soccer has found its way into her work as a pediatric occupational therapist after she started working with a client who has cerebral palsy (CP).

Kraun started playing soccer at age six and played for the varsity soccer team at North Springs High. Now she plays a few nights a week in an adult recreational league at Dunwoody Springs Elementary School.

“It’s been a big part of my life since I was a kid, and it’s still a big part of my life now,” she said.

When her client said his goal for therapy was to get better at playing goalkeeper, she looked into how his therapy sessions could be more like soccer training.

CP is a motor disorder that affects movement and posture, Kraun said. It can range from incredibly mild with balancing and motor coordination difficulties, to extremely severe with difficulty using both sides of the body together.

A Google search for soccer drills for kids with CP led her to the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National CP team. She searched for feeder teams for those programs and discovered CP Soccer. Reaching out to one of the founders, Kraun was told the organization had teams all over the country, but not in Atlanta.

“My follow-up question with that was, what can I do to get one started?” Kraun said.

The CP Soccer founder told her to find a coach and a field. Kraun said finding the coach was easier because she plays and can coach. She recruited two good friends to coach or referee.

“The harder part was finding the field, and that’s because there’s a lot of teams and not enough space for everybody,” she said.

That was in March, and by May CP Soccer Atlanta had its first practice.

She thought they’d have one practice, take off the summer and resume in the fall.

“We did that one practice, and families were like, ‘So when’s the next one?’ And some of them were even going, ‘I’ll see you next week’,” she said.

Practices have been held every other week during the summer. In August she plans to start a seven-week season where they practice every weekend.

CP Soccer Atlanta practices at Cauley Creek Park off Bell Road in Johns Creek. It draws participants primarily from Kraun’s clients and a network of pediatric occupational therapists, including kids from Sandy Springs and Dunwoody.

To pass the soccer ball, dribble, or shoot is a primary challenge. CP Soccer kids fall a lot, she said. That makes it difficult for them to play with able-bodied kids.

Kraun said children who need walkers can play if they can independently use their walkers. CP Soccer accepts students from 5 years old to 18, she said.

Everything for CP Soccer is funded through donations, since its a nonprofit charity. A lot of the equipment has been donated by Kraun, her fellow coaches or people they know.

Families have high costs with a child who has a disability, and Kraun didn’t want to add to their expenses.

“It’s 100 percent free to families because we want them to be able to come out and their kids to get to enjoy playing the sport and get to learn the sport and learn their way around the sport,” she said.

Her long-term goal would be to start another team in metro Atlanta, but for now she wants to grow the existing one. Those families who are interested in their child participating can sign up through the CP Soccer website or email atlanta@cpsoccer.us.

Kraun owes her interest in occupational therapy to her mother, who suggested it when she didn’t know what to pursue for a career. When she job shadowed a pediatric occupational therapist, she liked how each child’s goals were worked on individually, with playing worked into the therapy.

“I’ve always loved working with kids, so I knew whatever I did, I wanted to work with kids,” she said.

Five years into her career, she’s working at Kid’s Creek Therapy in the Suwanee-Johns Creek area.

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