The ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of power soccer

Fishers’ Lexi Heer to compete at Conference Cup this week, World Cup in October

 

By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com

The country’s best power soccer players will be showcasing their abilities just up the highway this week.

The United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) is conducting the Conference Cup at Turnstone’s Plassman Athletic Center in Fort Wayne from Thursday through Sunday. The Conference Cup is the USPSA’s national championship.

One of the players competing is from Fishers. Lexi Heer plays for the club team RHI Sudden Impact. Heer has been involved with power soccer since she was 5 years old, “and I’m now 30,” she said.

A total of 45 teams will compete in the Conference Cup.

“You can feel the energy and the crowd during the games,” said Heer. “It definitely gets energetic, fans cheering a lot.”

Power soccer is designed for people with physical disabilities, such as muscular dystrophy, quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. Heer has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic condition that causes muscle weakness. You can learn more about Lexi’s story here.

“It’s for people who use a wheelchair as a way to get around,” said Heer.

Power soccer is played on a regulation-size basketball court and has familiar rules to the able-bodied game of soccer.

“We have corner kicks, goal kicks, penalty kicks,” said Heer. “Throw-ins are called kick-ins.”

Athletes use a special chair designed specifically for power soccer. The chairs use a metal frame that attaches on the front of the chair to strike the ball.

Heer is one of four players competing at the Conference Cup that are members of the U.S. Power National Team. The team will compete in the Power Soccer World Cup this October in Argentina.

“The national team is a part of US Soccer’s extended national teams,” said Heer. “Just like any national team within US Soccer, there’s a player pool. The coaching staff for our team has a set of players that they look at and pull from. They pull from the player pool and invite who they want to invite.”

“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Heer. “These athletes practice and train for years to reach the level that’s necessary for international competition.”

Brett Passmore serves as the executive vice president of USPSA and is also the technology and performance coach. Passmore calls his role “The Wheelchair Wizard – I’m here to make sure the technology they’re playing with, the wheelchair, is operating where it needs to operate at in order for them to be competitive.”

Passmore said Heer is a “very critical part” of the national team.

“Lexi brings a number of things,” said Passmore. “She is a veteran of the sport. Lexi brings a maturity to the sport that a lot of our younger athletes really can learn from. She’s a Swiss Army Knife. She can play any position and she can play it at a level that is superior to most athletes in the sport.”

Passmore said when it comes to game situations, Heer is not “stuck to being just a goalkeeper or just a striker. If they need her to pivot and do something else, there’s nothing she can’t do on the field.”

Heer said that because she started playing power soccer at a young age, “it’s been able to teach me life-long lessons, such as working with teammates and having good communication amongst each other when we’re on the court.”

In addition, Heer has gained life-long friends, people that she now considers like family, something Heer said she will be forever grateful for.

“We’re all people with disabilities,” said Heer. “Growing up being surrounded by people with disabilities really showed me what I can do. Having different mentors that I’ve been able to look up to over the years and get guidance from has really helped me become who I am today.”