It’s a Saturday and the Dakota Hawks are in the championship game. When it ends, the crowd is cheering! The Dakota Hawks are champions, and Valley Middle 8th-grader Alex Jorgenson is one of them. Their coach, Roy, congratulates them on their win, and they all go celebrate together.

The Dakota Hawks play soccer, but not ordinary soccer. Imagine being in a wheelchair your whole life. Most people don’t know that people in wheelchairs can still play sports, but they can. Alex is one of those people who is in a wheelchair, but he loves sports, so his parents got him into adapted soccer last year.

Alex plays defender, and his favorite thing to do is block the ball. He says, “the most important thing in soccer is watching the game.” His job is to hit the soccer ball to the forwards so they can score, and to make sure the other team doesn’t make shots on the net.

Usually in soccer you run around and kick the ball with your feet. The only time you would use your hands is when you’re the goalie or when you’re doing a throw in. But for adapted soccer, everyone uses their hands, but only the goalies are allowed to grab the ball.

The soccer season was shorter than regular soccer; it started at the beginning of November and ended towards the end of November. They do have both practices and games.

“We’re the best team,” Alex said, when asked about his team’s victory. He said his team is sad that their season is over, but happy they won. Alex is also excited for the other sports he plays: hockey, soccer and softball.