Jonathan Rakshys of Commack was recently hospitalized for seizures. The 9-year-old suffers from the rare genetic condition Mowat-Wilson Syndrome , which effects his physical and mental development. In his own way, he is very proud to be part of that team. They each get their own jersey, help with the coin toss to decide who gets the ball first, and root from the sidelines with the other players — their teammates. And they rally around him. And the more they roughhouse the better it is.
In a heartwarming moment captured during the game, the team's captain, Jackson Wyss, who has cerebral palsy, got the chance to score his first touchdown thanks to a little help from his team. Joe Rao, president of Bay Shore Youth Football team, said the team had been planning to let Wyss, who has been captain for about seven years, score a touchdown during the last game of the season. Unfortunately, he is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday, so Rao and the team wanted to move up Wyss' big moment during Sunday afternoon's game against Lindenhurst.
Pop Warner football has been around since the inception of the league in by founder Joseph J. Tomlin as a four-team conference in Northeast Philadelphia. Since then, participation has steadily increased to today's record numbers. Over , youths participated in Pop Warner-sanctioned football programs in , and those numbers are continuing to grow.