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Evansville seventh-grader an inspiration to team, peers

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Evansville student inspires team

Evansville seventh-grader Julian Gorces has boosted morale and character for Evansville's seventh-grade football team.

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EVANSVILLE — Julian Gorces watched his seventh-grade teammates intently as the Evansville football team marched down the field.

Named a team captain for the game, Julian high-fived his friends coming off the field.

As the team advanced, he moved his wheelchair down the sideline.

"This is how we do it!" he fired to his teammate Ryan Landry, No. 34.

"Yeah, this is how we do it!" a teammate shouted back as Ryan patted Julian on the back.

Juli, pronounced WHO-lee, joined the team half way through the season. His presence at practice and games boosted team morale and character, said coach Tony Wiemiller, a high school math teacher.

"It was just an automatic pick-me-up," he said.

The passion Juli brought to the team helped prompt "exponential" growth in the team's development, he said, making the season one of the most rewarding in Wiemiller's 10 years of coaching in the district.

No. 94

Tuesday was the team's last game of the year, and the boys were up 8-0 over their Beloit Turner opponents.

Dressed in his Blue Devils No. 94 jersey and a big grin, Juli pumped his left fist and cheered on his team. Two freckles dotted his left cheek, his light brown hair was buzz cut and a strap around his neck kept his glasses from falling.

The clock ticked to a 16-0 victory, ending a magical season for the 13-year-old football player.

As the teams shook hands, a friend controlled Juli's wheelchair so he could use his more functional left arm to slap hands.

"With Juli, he's just a constant reminder of when you have a passion for the game, as he does, to try and give 100 percent," his coach said. "It's been an eye-opener for a lot of kids and myself just having him around."

Well-known in Evansville and the Madison Latino communities—and self-described as the most popular kid in school—Juli's unending happiness and constant smile have an impact beyond the football field.

'He loves life'

A big smile filled Juli's face as he raised his arm for high fives and fist pumps as friends greeted him by name in the hallway between classes. At lunch, he sat with the same friends—three boys and three girls.

"He's always happy all the time," said Laura Sasse, who sat next to him at lunch.

Juli, son of Jose and Laura Gorces, was born with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects body movement, motor skills and cognitive ability. He has limited mobility in his upper body, and spends most of his day in a wheelchair.

"He loves life," said Catherine Schuett, an educational assistant. "That wheelchair does not make life any less interesting for Juli. He's amazing."

What makes him so special, those around him say, is how accepting he is of his disability—and how it's the farthest thing from his mind.

"It's never brought up. He doesn't think he's any different," said his teacher Shelley Bisch.

Juli can't read, and any amount of repetition won't help, his mother said. He doesn't have short-term memory, but he does remember things such as how to get around school to his homeroom.

The main goal is to teach Juli social and functional skills so he can be more independent upon graduation, Bisch said. He attends some general education classes to learn to wait his turn, raise his hand and hopefully inspire other kids, she said.

Bisch recently asked Juli what his wish would be if he could change anything about himself.

"I wish I could do math better," Juli replied.

Like any other kid

Understanding where Juli gets his positive attitude takes only few minutes with his family.

As she prepared dinner, Juli's mom, Laura Gorces, energetically talked about the high expectations but positive environment in their home.

"We don't exclude Julian from anything, and I think that's part of it," she said.

Just then, Julian emerged from his bedroom to see if his mom and a reporter would play Wii bowling with him.

For a 13-year-old boy, Julian is cultured beyond many of his peers. His parents moved here more than 20 years ago from Uruguay and take periodic family trips back home. The family speaks Spanish at home and networks with the Madison Latino community.

Juli's 20-year-old sister, Maria, lives out-of-state but adores Juli, and vice versa, Laura said with an accent. The family talks openly about Juli's twin brother, Matis, who died shortly after birth.

Even though Juli is the center of their lives, Jose and Laura do their best to treat him as if he didn't have cerebral palsy, she said.

"Because he's in a wheelchair, we don't treat him differently, and I think that's why he's so positive about life," she said.

"He has cerebral palsy, but that doesn't mean he can't follow rules," she said.

He waits to be excused from the dinner table, was taught to be polite by not talking with his mouth full and does a list of chores, including feeding their dog, Mancha.

But the Gorces worry that other kids will take advantage of Juli and that caretakers will do the same in their own home, Laura admitted.

They said they have found a wonderful caregiver in a woman who comes daily.

If you advocate for what's best for your children, you'll find it," Laura said.

"This is the most precious thing I own—my children," she said.

Juli faces the same fears as other kids. He soon will visit the dentist to get his one and only cavity fixed.

"He's scared of that," his mom said.

As long as Juli is happy, healthy and capable of knowing his first and last name, that's all that matters, Laura said.

'My coach and my team need me'

Juli arrived home one day and told Laura he would be late the next day because he had practice.

Playing along, she asked what time.

"I don't know, after practice. My coach and my team need me," she recalled him saying.

Schuett had suggested to Bisch that Juli join the football team. They started working out a schedule with other J.C. McKenna Middle School staff members because a staff member always has to be with Juli.

They took turns volunteering to be at practice and games.

At the team's last practice Monday, sixth-grade social studies teacher Butch Beedle watched as Juli took a snap from a friend on the sidelines and others playfully tried to wrestle the ball away from him.

Beedle said his time spent on the football field after school has been a small sacrifice.

"I figured it's a little thing I can do for him … just to make sure he gets to do what he wants to do," Beedle said.

Teammates coaxed Juli's chair out of a rut in the field while coach Wiemiller walked over to let Juli pick a play from the clipboard. When his mom told him it was time to go, he insisted practice wasn't over and told her to "chill."

Juli's presence has made his peers strive to get better, Wiemiller said.

"It comes down to the little things. All he wanted was a shirt, football and helmet," he said.

"The fact that we could give that to him, take that time out of our practices, games—it makes a dream come true."