WOODBRIDGE, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University volleyball team took time out on Saturday to assist at the Easter Seals Volleyblast event at the Connecticut Sports Center in Woodbridge. Student-athletes from the squad assisted with officiating, scorekeeping and administrative duties during the course of the event.

This event is just one example of many community outreach events that SCSU student-athletes will take part in as part of the Tim Greer Insurance Agency Community Service Cup.

Initiated in September, 2008, the ‘Community Service Cup’ program provides a competitive format that allows student-athletes to gain an enriched experience through engagement with the on-campus and local communities by supporting ventures of traditional citizens, campus community members and peer students and student-athletes. SCSU student-athletes volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time to numerous outreach efforts, both on-campus and in Greater New Haven, during the 2012-13 academic year.

Chapel Hill- Cricket Lane asked Leigh Williams’s fifth-grade class, “What makes you TOPPS?”

Lane is the assistant athletic director for student-athlete development at UNC Chapel Hill and part of a pilot program between the university and Northside Elementary that brings student athletes into the classroom to mentor students.

Lane said that TOPPS – traits, opportunities, passions, praise and skills – allow the student to take personal inventories of themselves allowing them to come up with ways to be their best.

Along with Shelley Johnson, director of UNC’s Richard A. Baddox Carolina Leadership Academy, Lane and four student athletes help the elementary students work on leadership skills that will help them throughout their lives.

UNC football players Jarrod James and Alex Bales along with Lauren Colberg of the rowing team and track and field athlete Ryan Walling serve as mentors.

The athletes work with the students on the activities guided by Lane and Johnson but they also get a chance to connect with the students and show them what’s behind the person they see on television.

“I like it a lot,” Colberg said of mentoring. “I like interacting with the kids and giving back to the community.”

In between their visits, the athletes send inspirational quotes to Williams to share with the class and check on them to see how they’re doing.

“It’s been a really good character-builder for them and they enjoy talking to college students,” Williams said.

The group visits the school once a month for three days, one day with each of the fifth-grade classes. Last month the students were challenged to make structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows with their mentors.

This month Lane talked to the students about the Golden Buddha and the importance of finding the good inside themselves and showing it to the world.

Johnson said that the program teaches the students good “habitudes,” or habits and attitudes, that will guide them through life.

“It’s fantastic,” she said. “It’s always great to get out into the community. With the close proximity of Northside to the university, it’s great for us to come over on our lunch break and give back.

“We’re doing our best to make sure we’re impacting these students and by all accounts it seems to be very well received,” said Johnson.

School counselor Virginia Fox said that this is just one way Northside is preparing its students to transition to middle school.

“Through this program, our students will get to see that being an athlete requires much more than just skills on the field or on the court,” she said. “These athletes are students first and their character is just as important as their athletic ability.

“We as educators can tell them every day how important character is but I think having these student-athletes, whom they admire so much, tell them will make a huge impact.”

When Johson announced that the mentors would visit just one more time, there was a collective sigh of disappointment among the students. Josh Singleton was among them.

“I love it,” Singleton said of the program. “I like talking about all the things we talk about. I like the mentors, they’re kind.”

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x112097750/UNC-leadership-plays-role-at-Northside

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University field hockey program conducted a clinic at the Church Street School in Hamden earlier today as part of the ‘You Go Girl’ program by USA Field Hockey.

The You Go Girl program is an initiative that will expose the sport of field hockey and enhance the lives of girls, ages 10-18, in urban or non-traditional areas. With the help of current NCAA student-athletes, USA Field Hockey will look to introduce field hockey to over 1,000 young women in metropolitan areas.

The You Go Girl program is a part of USA Field Hockey’s greater campaign, Grow the Game. The Grow the Game campaign will expose the sport and inspire participation in both male and female athletes, coaches, umpires, parents and fans. Each of the selected colleges possessed an astonishingly strong commitment to community service, a clear comprehension of the program or a distinctive opportunity to work with urban or at-risk girls, but most possessed all three.

This event is just one example of many community outreach events that SCSU student-athletes will take part in as part of the Tim Greer Insurance Agency Community Service Cup.

Initiated in September, 2008, the ‘Community Service Cup’ program provides a competitive format that allows student-athletes to gain an enriched experience through engagement with the on-campus and local communities by supporting ventures of traditional citizens, campus community members and peer students and student-athletes. SCSU student-athletes volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time to numerous outreach efforts, both on-campus and in Greater New Haven, during the 2012-13 academic year.

Throughout the 2013-2014 academic year, student athletes at DeSales University in Center Valley, Penn., have devoted their time and talents to volunteering in the community.

According to the University’s website, students on at least five varsity teams at DeSales have engaged in service so far this year. The University reports:

…[The baseball team] held their annual Miracle League event in January in which the entire baseball team gives the kids some basic instruction including playing catch with each of the children. The entire team then assists all of the players in a short game inside on the recreation courts. The Miracle League of Lehigh County is an organization which sets up baseball games for special needs children.

[Men’s and women’s basketball] volunteered on what has become an annual trip to the Lehigh Valley Academy in conjunction with the Cops-N-Kids Program. During the fall semester, the teams collected almost 600 books that were donated to the children at LVA. During the visit, the student-athletes read stories to the students, helped them create bookmarks, and autographed their books and bookmarks. Both teams always have a tremendous amount of fun and enjoy their visit with the children at LVA every year.

During the fall semester the [field hockey] team volunteered on several Saturdays with the Miracle League of Northampton County. The first night of pre-season practice, the team went to Palmer Community Center to participate the first time in which they were each paired with buddies that they played two innings of baseball with. The team was paired with the Dodgers, a team with kids ages 5-17 with various physical or developmental handicaps. The team created a terrific connection with their buddies and have been back three more times since the initial visit. The entire team hopes to make a few more visits in the spring once the seasons re-starts.

DeSales University is recommended in The Newman Guide for strong Catholic identity.

– See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/3026/DeSales-Univ-Student-Athletes-Volunteer-in-Community.aspx#sthash.0OkSqKIJ.dpuf

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Student-athletes and coaches from the Southern Connecticut State University women’s soccer team traveled to the Daniels School in New Haven on Monday as part of an interactive ‘Soccer Haven’ athletic program with students at the school. This program is a team effort between both men’s and women’s programs at several area greater New Haven colleges.

This program is just one example of many community outreach events that SCSU student-athletes will take part in as part of the Tim Greer Insurance Agency Community Service Cup.

Initiated in September, 2008, the ‘Community Service Cup’ program provides a competitive format that allows student-athletes to gain an enriched experience through engagement with the on-campus and local communities by supporting ventures of traditional citizens, campus community members and peer students and student-athletes. SCSU student-athletes volunteered more than 3,000 hours of their time to numerous outreach efforts, both on-campus and in Greater New Haven, during the 2012-13 academic year.