Judge Rules in Favor of Handicapped Soccer Player

OKLAHOMA CITY — A 9-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who uses a walker to get around was to be able to play in his pee-wee soccer team’s final game of the season Saturday, a judge ruled Friday.

Ryan Taylor played in his first two games, but that was before the soccer league president realized Ryan was using his scooter-like, four-wheeled walker, which is not allowed on the field, and banned him from playing.

Ryan plays right back, a position near the goalie that sees little action.

Ruling under the Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. District Judge David Russell deemed the soccer field, located at an Army base, to be a public facility and ordered the league to accommodate Ryan.

“It goes without saying this is a very difficult case,” Russell said. On one hand, he said, there was a child who wanted to play. On the other hand, there were officials trying to look out for the good of everyone.

“We’re excited. I’m sure Ryan will be thrilled he will get to play tomorrow,’ said JoAnne Taylor, who has spearheaded a public campaign to get her son back on the field.

Russell said he believed reasonable modifications could be made to accommodate Ryan’s disability. He said the league has the discretion to have an adult near Ryan on the field if his walker should turn over or if he needed some type of assistance. He rejected the idea that Ryan’s father could carry him out on the field.

The Lawton Optimist Soccer Assn.’s safety rules prohibit casts, helmets and metal objects that could harm kids during a game, league President David Dalton said. The league said it would not appeal.

Russell’s ruling did not deal with the spring soccer season. Saturday’s game marks the end of the fall season.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen next year,” the judge said.

Tim Taylor said the judge apparently saw that his son’s right to participate outweighed the potential harm to other kids.

“That’s the way we felt about it from the beginning,” he said.