Sacramento youth clubs are rallying in support of the Sierra Soccer Club's Cassy Rowe, a 16-year-old midfielder who was paralyzed in a freak accident during a game last summer.

Rowe, who lost the use of her limbs, was told by doctors at Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento that she would never play soccer again.

She has since been able to move her hands and wrists and control her mechanized wheelchair and hopes to walk one day.

"She was sometimes hard to coach because she was so strong willed," Rowe's coach, Dick Gordon told the Roseville Press-Tribune. "She's one of the hardest workers I've come across. That's why I have so much confidence in her."

Her family has spent thousands of dollars on medical bills and hopes to go to Germany for a unique surgery.

Clubs raised money during the Cassy Rowe Benefit Soccer Tournament at six venues in the Sacramento area.

Cassy's blog:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/cassyrowe

Contributions:
NTAF Southwest Spinal Cord Injury Fund In Honor of Cassy Rowe
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19807