ATLANTA — A new soccer league is taking Atlanta by storm to help all players of any ability and their families score a sense of purpose on the pitch.
"It makes me feel very happy, very happy, and that's what I feel," Jackson Eiswirth, a 16-year-old athlete with the program, said.
The Volunteer League at North Fulton United FC started with just a dozen players a few years ago. And with each goal scored, its popularity is soaring. The program welcomes athletes of all abilities to come out and play each Sunday. And invites their families to get involved in the action.
"My friends are very nice to me," Eiswirth said. "Even my Dad. He's a friend to me. He just helps me with soccer and wants me to do better with other things in my life."
The league pairs athletes with partners from area high schools who love the game and want to see everyone succeed. Jackson plays with his brother, Ike, and their Dad helps coach the team and sees them all work together.
It's those life skills the players and the partners learn on the field that co-founder Martin Jelleme says matter most.
"I think it's the most important thing. I almost think the soccer is secondary," Jelleme said.
The Jelleme's started the league with their daughter after realizing that Georgians with special needs want to be included and celebrated as athletes at every stage of life.
"If you don't see someone who is older or different than you, you don't think you can get there," he said.
NFU is unique because it includes athletes from middle school through adulthood.
"It made my heart burst into a bunch of little hearts," athlete Kelly Robinson said.
She is 21 and said thinking about the league helped her through a scary stay in the ICU.
"I was just thinking about soccer, I want to go play soccer, I want to get back on the field, because that's important to me," she said.
The Jelleme's want other kids to have that same motivation to play.
"I know there are more kids out there because this community does not have one place to go to find resources and opportunities," MJ Jelleme, co-founder, said.
And this is an opportunity Jackson doesn't want anyone to miss.
"Don't listen to any doubters or mean people," he said. "Believe in yourself and find a way."
The whole idea of the league is to build connections with people -- and they're building them -- til death do us part. NFU already has scored three marriages - couples who met on the pitch and got married with their soccer family cheering them on.
If you want to get involved, head to their website for more information.
'I want to go play soccer' | Special needs soccer team in Atlanta celebrates athletes of all ages
