Sunshine’s Football Clinic brightens lives of special-needs kids
A camper sprints through the running back station at Friday’s 12th Annual Sunshine’s Football Skills and Drills Clinic on the north turf of the Plymouth Canton Educational Park campus.
One of the brightest days of the year for close to 60 boys and girls living and thriving with special needs unfolded Friday evening — thanks to the unwavering guidance of Plymouth High School and Livonia Churchill High School football coaches and players, and Churchill cheerleaders.
Smiles ruled the day as campers rotated between four football-skills stations that were run by Wildcat and Charger coaches.
Ear-to-ear grins were shared equally by the kids and the players.
(To check out a highlight video of Friday’s clinic, click here.)
Building bonds
“One of the cool things about this clinic is every kid is assigned a one-on-one buddy (football player), which allows them to bond for a few hours out here,” said Brian Rochon, who has been the lead orchestrator of the clinic throughout its 12-year run.
“I give these players a lot of credit for taking a few hours out of their summer to give back to the community. We’ve been doing this 12 years now, but it never gets old seeing the kids’ faces light up.”
The clinic was initiated in 2014 by then-10-year-old Connor Sherman when he was a student at Canton’s Workman Elementary School.
How it all started
As a fourth-grader in Melanie Gray’s class at Workman, Sherman, came up with a plan for a special-needs football clinic during “Genius Hour”, a project that allowed students to create a “Passion Project” and share it with the class, school and the world.
The campers’ parents are appreciative beyond words, Scott Robertson shared during last year’s clinic.
“I just can’t get over how these teen-aged kids are so comfortable and bond so easily with the kids their paired with,” said Robertson, whose son Max has been a clinic attendee since its inaugural summer. “I get a little choked up even talking about it because this clinic is one of the highlights of Max’s year.”
Rochon, Allen deserve praise
After overseeing the clinic during its formative years, the Sherman family (Connor and his parents, Eric and Jennifer) handed the organizational baton to Pioneer Middle School educator and Churchill Assistant Football Coach Brian Rochon (who has been a leader at Sunshine’s since its inception) and Workman educator Jamie Allen.
“Jamie is in charge of securing volunteers, ordering the T-shirts, a million behind-the-scenes things,” Rochon said. “I handle all the football-related stuff.
“It’s such a wonderful event. You see all these smiling faces … it’s just a blessing that it gives these kids facing daily challenges an opportunity to just be a kid for a day.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
