(WXMI) — Mary Free Bed's power soccer team has won a national championship.
"It's beyond words. I think that's why I keep on coming back," Mary Free Bed Overdrive coach Peter Kaiser said.
Mary Free Bed started the power soccer program in 2019 for athletes with disabilities. The sport features three players and a goalie using powered wheelchairs to kick an oversized soccer ball on a basketball court.
"I look forward to practice every week. Tournament weekends are once a month and it's what I look forward to every month," Overdrive player Kyle Friar said.
Friar grew up playing soccer before being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age 13, a genetic disease that causes muscle weakness. Finding power soccer was transformative for him.
"A light went off. I was like there's a big possibility here. I'm definitely going to do this," Friar said. "There were some tough days, but I really feel like ever since I started playing power soccer, it really has brightened up everything and really gave me (the) opportunity to get back into sports."
Friar and his teammate, Alec Lundy, have both been playing since the program started, embracing the competitive nature of the sport.
"It gives us more independence in a competitive area because I know at least when I was looking for sports teams, I wanted something a little bit more competitive," Lundy said.
Despite a slow start to their season, the Overdrive team made it to nationals.
"They want to win. They're competitive," Kaiser said. "It's so cool to be able to have those guys continue to want it."
The championship game went to double overtime before Overdrive secured the victory.
"My teammate Nate passed the ball for our corner kick and I shot the ball into the far post and it went in. That moment was kind of like relief that the game was over, but it just didn't feel real," Friar said.
Lundy recalled the excitement of the winning moment: "Kyle was zooming around the field all excited. I saw him and was like, we actually won."
As the team prepares for next season, they're also focusing on creating more awareness around the growing sport of power soccer.
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