Azzedine Layachi: Coaching special-needs athletes with care

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Dr. Azzedine Layachi is a political scientist, a professor of government and politics at St. John’s University and a renowned author and researcher. Yet despite his scholarly proclivities, he displays a childlike joy on Saturday mornings as he prepares to coach soccer for special-needs youth in Valley Stream, according to his wife, Bouchra.

“He is taking it so seriously,” she said. “It’s unbelievable. You want more people like that in the community.”

Layachi, 63, was growing up in poverty in Algiers, Algeria, when he fell in love with soccer — a passion that has not dimmed in the decades since. Without the luxury of grass fields or modern sports facilities, he played with friends in the street, using “balls” made of bags stuffed with cloth. The sport helped him form a sense of identity and connection, which he now tries to instill in the young athletes he coaches in Valley Stream.

Elyas and Zakarya, Layachi’s 11-year-old twin sons, and his daughter, Manal, 9, are all avid soccer players. Zakarya, who is on the autism spectrum, took an early interest in the game, but initially there wasn’t a logical place for him to play. His father discovered The Outreach Program for Soccer, or TOPSoccer, for special-needs youth, which had a program in Hempstead, and he founded a chapter in Valley Stream.

For all of his work to help special-needs children through the “beautiful game,” the Valley Stream Herald proudly names Layachi its 2016 Person of the Year.

He became the commissioner of the Valley Stream chapter of TOPSoccer in 2014. The program launched in 1978, and there are now 26 soccer clubs across Long Island. The program, which is free and open to children ages 4 to 19, regardless of residency, provides each participant with a soccer ball, a uniform and a T-shirt, as well as supplemental insurance in case of injury.

“He’s perfect for the program,” Timmy Graham, president of the Valley Stream Soccer Club, said of Layachi. “He’s a great guy, and wonderful with the children.”

In just two years, dozens of children with special needs in Valley Stream have not only bonded over soccer, but also improved their social and motor skills in a program that caters to their needs.

Layachi’s line of work requires him to be a skilled writer and communicator, and that in turn, his wife said, helps him in his coaching. A frequent traveler, with interests that include economic development, the politics of Islam, the Middle East, Africa and ethnicity, he is a worldly academic. He has written four books on a variety of subjects, and has contributed to several scholarly articles.

Bouchra said she thought soccer was a different kind of connection for her husband. “Playing soccer with autistic children is a kind of communication with them,” she explained. “It’s still an interaction. He finds a lot of pleasure because of that.”

In the face of logistical challenges, Layachi has often come up with creative solutions to make sure the program is always on schedule. For example, Bouchra said, he recently spent $1,500 of his own money to secure practice space for the winter to give the program consistency.

In addition to volunteering several hours of his week to coach TOPSoccer and two other travel teams, Layachi recruits young volunteers to assist him in mentoring athletes with special needs. The initiative has created a niche for them that did not exist in Valley Stream.

Dara Ehrlich signed up her son Jake, 11, for the program before they moved to Oceanside, and she opted to continue to attend the Valley Stream program. “I knew he was going to be an amazing coach … the first time I spoke to him,” Ehrlich said of Layachi. “I said to my husband, ‘This is gonna be good for Jake.’ And it has been.”

David Westmeier’s son Benjamin, 12, has taken an interest in soccer that he previously did not have. “We were in Germany for the last World Cup,” Westmeier said. “He was very interested in the games, and we would watch them with all the family. He’s really into it, and I really attribute it to this program.”

The individualized attention that Layachi gives athletes on the field is what makes the program so special, Westmeier said, adding that “the way that he is on the field, you can really tell he has a heart for these kids and he wants them to succeed in life.”

Both Westmeier and Ehrlich said that there aren’t an abundance of special-needs sports programs like this one, and that they are grateful for it. “He’s providing an opportunity for the parents who have special-needs children to get [them] out in the fresh air and away from the electronics,” Westmeier said. “It’s a rare opportunity — you don’t see a lot of that.”

Even in the span of one soccer season, Elizabeth Fogarty, assistant travel coordinator for the Valley Stream Soccer Club, said she has noticed a positive change in the athletes. Fogarty coaches a VSSC travel team, and she said that although every coach needs patience, Layachi goes above and beyond when catering to the children’s needs.

“He goes out of his way for these special children,” she said. “He makes sure that they’re a part of tournaments where they get medals. He makes sure that they all feel included and special … Not everybody can do what he’s doing.”

Anyone who has spent even five minutes on the field with Layachi can see that he’s passionate about the sport, and about teaching children how to play it. He carves time out of his busy schedule to give the children a place to be themselves. Last month, he had this to say about children with special needs:

“We, as parents and as a community, are entrusted with looking after their well-being and with helping them become independent and productive members of society. We must encourage and help them pursue that aim with dignity, respect and love.”

Adults can get a coaching license for TOPSoccer and help the program accommodate more children. High school students may get service credit for volunteering with the program. Businesses can support TOPSoccer by donating money and or sports apparel. Interested parents can contact the Valley Stream Soccer Club, or Layachi, at layachi77@gmail.com.