• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10

Meet Gray Dougherty, third grader at Selwyn Elementary in Charlotte, North Carolina. His favorite subject is math; he’s a weekend video game expert, a summer camp chess champion and a huge fan of Ben Roethlisberger, the Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At age nine, Gray Dougherty is not only the youngest member of the Charlotte Power SURGE power soccer team, he’s also a pretty classy and polite “boy about town.”

Hey Big Ben, here is a young man you should look up to and idolize.

While Ben Roethlisberger has a definite size advantage over Gray Dougherty, he’s got nothing on this power soccer stud when it comes to heart and determination. Michael Gray Dougherty was born in October 1998 and was diagnosed with Type II SMA in August 1999. Riley Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is a motor neuron disease that kills more babies than any other inherited disease. With SMA, the motor neurons affect the voluntary muscles that are used for activities such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. It is a relatively common “rare disorder” where approximately one in 6,000 babies born are affected and about one in 40 people are genetic carriers.

Watching Gray play power soccer is like watching Ben Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward in stride for a game-breaking touchdown—it’s a thing of beauty. According to Mike Dougherty, his son Gray has been playing the sport for “about three or four seasons.”

Why the uncertainty about the length of Gray’s playing resumé? While there was the excused absence for spinal fusion surgery in 2005 that sidelined Gray for a bit, the real question is when Gray “officially” began playing the sport. Rumor has it that the SURGE have a minimum age-related rule that Gray just might have broken when he started playing at the young age of five. “He was desperate for a sport he could play, and we were happy to see him become involved,” explained Gray’s mother, Abbie Dougherty.

Each successive season brings a better understanding of the game and an increase in speed for Gray. “When he was really little, we had to limit the speed of his chair,” explained Mike Dougherty. “Every year we turn it up a little more and I’ve seen some chairs that simply fly,” he added.

Speed definitely is not an issue for Gray these days. On his Make-A-Wish Foundation trip to the Disney theme parks in Orlando, Florida, Gray whizzed through all five of Disney’s Parks: Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Animal Kingdom in record time. Just imagine how he must move through the halls of Selwyn Elementary.

Despite the fact that power soccer is a “non contact” sport played by teams of four on a basketball court using an oversized 13-inch soccer ball, the speed of the game inherently leads to a bit of banging. Power SURGE team captain, Jessica Kent, explained that while the sport’s new rules have eliminated most of the contact, there is still some banging between players.

“The sport has really changed since I started playing six years ago,” said Jessica. “The rule changes have made the sport more like able-bodied soccer than it used to be. There’s less contact and more position play, but we always have a box of tools ready just in case,” she added.

Less contact? Somebody better tell that to Gray. While fixing blown fuses and diagnosing electrical issues have become second nature to the Doughertys, it is the mechanical bumps and bruises of power soccer that are causing the latest round of wheelchair repair headaches. Gray’s North Carolina State Wolfpack red wheelchair has accumulated a serious assortment of scratches, dents, and cracks in only a few seasons.

Power soccer is open to all athletes who use power wheelchairs for mobility. Participants include those with quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, head trauma, stroke, and other disabilities. It is unisex by design with males and females playing on the same team as well as on opposing sides. The nonstop action is equal to that of indoor soccer.

“It’s a sport that even the most disabled power-dependent athletes can play,” explained Jennifer Moore, coordinator of the Adaptive Sports and Adventures Program (ASAP) of Carolinas Rehabilitation. ASAP, the Power SURGE’s primary sponsor and team managers, introduced the sport to Charlotte in 2001. “What impresses me the most about the sport is the ability of the athletes to control their chairs and be so competitive at the same time,” Moore added.

What does Gray Dougherty think about the game? “I like it because it’s a challenge,” he stated. “It’s a really fast sport that gives you a good workout, too.”

While winning a Super Bowl might not be a short-term homework assignment for Gray Dougherty just yet, scoring a few power soccer goals beats doing math homework any day.

About the sport
Power soccer is played by more than 40 teams across the country in the United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA). The season runs from September to May with the National Championship held in June. Want to learn more about power soccer? Visit the home of the United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) at www.powersoccerusa.net. To catch up with Gray Dougherty, check out www.graysgang.com.