TOWSON, Md. — Team Up for 1 Foundation was started by Charlie Levine about 3 ½ years ago. What this great group does is match up sports teams with young people who are mentally and physically challenged.
On Wednesday it was Goucher College's turn to make a young person’s life better.
Max is 12 years old. He started out playing lacrosse and then adults got in the way.
"As we got older we noticed some struggles he was having," said his mother Julie.
Nasty words on the sideline, coaches who wanted to win, instead of teach.
"I have been playing sports for a while, but just as I got older the coaches were more about winning instead of just having fun, so I just dropped out" said Max.
Max was smart enough to walk away. His mother was smart enough to find Team Up for 1 Foundation.
"It was tough. It was really tough to stand on the sidelines and hear parents as well as teammates yell at your child," said Julie.
"He would cheer when the other team would score and he started getting yelled at for it, so he kinda of lost interest in it when the adults started ruining it for everybody, which is normal," said his father Dean.
So the Goucher Men's Lacrosse team adopted Max and let him lead them out of the locker room and he stands on the sideline. He leads the 3-2-1 FAMILY chant.
"I would say we are lucky enough to play this game and unfortunately there are people who love the game who can't really do that, so we love to have the support and to support him with anything he needs," said one of the Goucher players.
It has changed his life around.
"It's phenomenal, it's amazing. I mean it's emotional for me to see him welcomed the way he deserves," said his mother while holding back tears.
Goucher will be at home Saturday at 1 p.m. Max will hopefully ring the bell for the fifth time this season.
Levine says we have plenty of teams, but they are always looking for young girls and boys to get adopted, click here.
