English: The Florida Citrus Bowl stadium located in Orlando, Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Elisha Todd
♦Zachary Owen has been invited for the third year in a row to participate in the Offense-Defense Bowl to be held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on New Year’s Day. Zachary, age 13, is a defensive lineman for West Rowan Middle School Bulldogs. He was selected for this honor from a group of young athletes numbering in the thousands across the country.
Zachary’s prized cleats.
The Offense-Defense Youth All-American Bowl is part of a week-long series of events including the televised, 8th-annual Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, an All-Star football game showcasing 88 of the top high school seniors in the country and has featured current NFL pros such as Cam Newton, Carlos Dunlap, and Dez Bryant among others before they were collegiate and later professional stars. Offense-Defense Sports has been running full-contact football instructional camps for the past 45 years and currently operates in approximately 40 camp locations nationwide every spring and summer. For more information visit http://www.o-d.com.
This achievement is especially inspiring since Zachary was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of three. Just how hard does Zachary play the game? Well, before attending this summer’s Offense-Defense Camp at Myrtle Beach, Zachary’s mother took him shopping for a new pair of cleats, but he could not find “just the right pair,” so he decided to stick with the ones he already had. By the end of the week, Zachary had to resort to duct tape just to keep his cleats together. Since that time he has managed to secure another set of cleats, and several family friends have chipped in to sponsor fund raisers for the expensive trip to the Citrus Bowl.
What follows is an essay Zachary recently wrote for an NFL contest, describing just why he loves the game of football so much:
Mom says I was not a happy baby. I cried more than anything else. I didn’t like bright lights, loud noises, or being around lots of other people. I slept in my baby swing and rocking chair more than I slept in my bed when I was little. By the time I was six months old, Mom knew something just wasn’t quite right. So I went to a lot of doctors and specialists for many tests. Finally, when I was three, Mom was told that I have Asperger’s Syndrome. They told Mom that all the crying, hitting, kicking, and what my mom thought was me being a bad boy was my way of trying to communicate. Mom decided to get me the best help possible. To start, she took me to speech and occupational therapy. When I was four, mom decided to let me try soccer, so that it would be ok for me to kick something that wasn’t a person. That was a bust. I didn’t like soccer, so I stood on the field and did nothing. Next, Mom enrolled me in Tae Kwon Do. I liked that, but I was always making the coach upset because I was hitting and kicking my opponents too hard.
As soon as I was old enough, I asked Mom if I could try football. Mom wasn’t sure how I would do on a team sport, especially after the way things went with soccer. But,she gave in, and things haven’t been the same since. Football is definitely the sport I was meant to play. I love everything about football. When I say everything, I mean everything. I love the intense conditioning. I love having to stay healthy. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. I love the fans. I love playing on the field, and I especially love being able to tackle my opponents.
I play with intense emotions when I am on the field. I have high expectations. I expect nothing less than the best from myself and my teammates on and off the field. When I play football, I think more about my team than about myself. Everything I do in football is for the benefit of my team. This season, my team, the West Rowan Middle School Bulldogs, was one of the best teams in school history.
Playing football also motivates me to study harder in school. I push myself harder to make the best grades possible so that my grades don’t interfere with my ability to be on the field every day. I have dreams and expectations of playing college football after high school. My ultimate goal is to play in the NFL. But I also know that God, family, and school come before football.
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A note from Zachary Owen’s mom, Barbara Owen:
Hello, my name is Barbara Owen. I am Zachary’s mom. As Zachary’s mom, I have had the privilege of watching him grow into the wonderful young man that he is today. When he was little, he really was not a happy boy. His struggle with Asperger’s Syndrome was just as intense and difficult as his intense emotions are today at the line of scrimmage. Zachary has always had to work hard for every accomplishment that he has ever made. His intense love of football has opened up so many doors for him and helped him in so many ways. Football has been the best medicine for his Asperger’s. It has helped him learn how to step out of his shell and learn how to better communicate with people. It has been a big motivator for him in school, since he has to make the grade in order to play. Zachary has attended Offense-Defense camp for the last three years to compete and earn his spot to play in the annual Offense-Defense All-American Bowl Game. This year, he will be playing at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Last year, he played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, and the year before, he played at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. As his mom, I have had to be creative and think outside the box when it came to dealing with Zachary because of the Asperger’s Syndrome. Football has literally been a life saver, not only for Zachary, but for our entire family. It has been the perfect fit for Zachary, giving him that extra something he was missing in his life. I don’t know if God made Zachary just to play football, but I think he made football just for Zachary because it’s really changed his life.
Last years story about Zachary:
http://rowanfreepress.com/2013/01/02/zachary-owen-local-gridiron-star-on-the-horizon/
