Taylor Washington has a poem that was given to him when he was four years old. It was written by his pre-school teachers. A few lines in the poem were devoted to each student.

Taylor, who now is 22, proudly claims he can play every sport. The lines from his personal part of the poem read: “Agile, strong and, boy, can he throw. He’ll play in the majors and earn some big dough.”

It is not known if the teachers actually believed in his future sports success, or if they were just including the boy’s interests at the time. While the lines indicate a career in baseball, Taylor has made it big in soccer.

After he was selected by the Philadelphia Union in the second round of the Major League Soccer draft in January, Taylor has become focused on earning a roster spot. Since those pre-school days, he was a kid who had everything line up for him. He was boy who everyone cheered on to success.

Taylor was a star high school player. More than 80 Division I colleges recruited him and he attended Boston University. But, there is more to the story.

While successful on the field, this happy kid who always raised his hand to answer questions in class and who spent a lot of time hitting the books also always struggled with written tests. Yet, he sometimes won academic awards despite teacher evaluations to the contrary. One teacher even wrote that he was a kid without an “academic bone in his body.”

After his freshman year at BU, some extensive testing revealed a learning issue. Taylor has dyslexia. Quickly, he took his work ethic from the soccer field and applied it to his lessons. He left Boston to attend George Mason University, a school that had recruited him and also had many more academic programs to help students overcome learning issues.

On the field, Taylor earned Atlantic-10, ECAC and NCSAA All-Midwest honors. With all his academic and sports work, Taylor still found time to help people he did not know, working with kids and organizing projects such as cleaning a school that serves disadvantaged children.

His coaches since high school say that he is an overachiever in every aspect of life. One coach even stated that Taylor is “one of the best human beings I’ve ever worked with.”

So, what does the future hold for Taylor? Well, about a month ago, the Philadelphia Union announced that Taylor was added to the roster at the position of left back. The team announcement included this statement from the Union’s sporting director: “It was evident from day one that Taylor entered preseason camp with a focused mentality and committed work ethic in hopes of making our roster. He’s earned his place on the team and he exemplifies the type of professionalism we want at our club. He has a bright future and the ability to immediately contribute at such an important position.”

-Jim

Lani DeMello decided to dedicate some extra time to perfect a new rope routine at a Georgia gymnastics school. With prior ballet training, her footwork already is graceful. Now, she was working on the required elements of the routine.

Lani was focused on this routine after she earned the title of 2015 World Champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She competed against more than 20 athletes and won gold medals for some routines and silver medals for others. Her overall score earned her the world champion title. A few years earlier, Lani also won a gold medal at the event.

Now 30, Lani continues to compete at state and regional competitions. She has served as an intern for her coach, and now she also coaches other athletes.

What I haven’t mentioned is that Lani has Down syndrome. She competes in the Down Syndrome International Gymnastics Organization but she also enters non-special needs competitions. Her coaching includes special needs and non-special needs athletes.

When she was only four, Lani began to take dance lessons. A family friend suggested that she participate in the Special Olympics and, specifically, rhythmic gymnastics that is a combination of dance, gymnastics and manipulation of various apparatus. Lani started competing when she was 13 years old.

Besides Down syndrome, Lani also was born with a heart defect and poor muscle tone, both issues often associated with the medical condition. With all these challenges, just look at the progress she has made!

Her coach calls her “an ambassador to the world…showing what people with disabilities can do.” I call her “simply amazing!”

- Jim