Skidmore College - Scope Magazine Fall 2018

14 SCOPE FALL 2018 Christopher Massa Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 1 8 On a steamy evening in August, Skidmore men’s basketball coach Joe Burke and assistant coach Rey Crossman survey the fast-paced action in the Williamson Sports Center main gym— three full-court games running simul- taneously. Shoes squeak on the floor, players move the ball crisply looking for opportunities to shoot, families chat in the stands. It’s the sixth season of Skidmore’s boys’ high school summer league, which Burke started in 2013 not so much for Skidmore recruiting but to serve the local community. Says Burke after a hug from a well-wisher, “It’s just a good idea to get families into our gym. Most of these kids have never been to the Skidmore campus. This opens the door a little bit.” Earlier in the day, coaches Burke andCrossman and a number of their varsi- ty players were running their thirdweek of basketball camp for boys ages 6-14, an unexpected add-on due to high registration numbers—165 in all. Burke says, “My favorite part of coaching is teaching young kids about hoops and about life. The reward comes inwatching themdevelop as good people over the years.” Such intentional efforts to connect with and provide value to commu- nity almost always start with an individual. And it doesn’t hurt to belong to a culture that values service, as Skidmore’s Athletics Department does. It was the spring of 2008 when Chris Markham ’08 kept circling back to con- versations he’d had with brother-in-law Ben Gucciardi, who had launched the global nonprofit Soccer Without Borders. Gucciardi had encouraged Markham to create a soccer clinic at Skidmore for local kids that would teach soccer skills, raise funds for SWB’s Uganda Project and serve as a pilot for other colleges. WhenMarkhammentioned the idea to teammate Peter Brownell ’08, they decided to throw caution to the wind. They asked for field time, and Skid- more’s administrators and coaches were “very supportive,” saysMarkham. “Before we knew it, more than 100 kids had signed up. We were like, ‘Oh, no. How are we going to get this done?’ But we got in touchwith the men’s and women’s soccer players as well as our coaches, and they were all in.” That SWB clinic is still going strong, with about 250 Skidmore athletes having served nearly 800 youngsters and raised upwards of $32,000, pri- marily for refugee children in Kampala, Uganda. Now a Boston attorney, Markham says, “Hands down, starting the soccer clinic was the most rewarding thing I did in college. It’s good for refugees in Uganda, good for local kids and families and good for Skidmore players and the school.” Each year the Skidmore Athletic Advisory Committee helps to plan an ambitious community-service agenda—a mix of long-standing traditions and team-specific initiatives—that enlists full participation from all 19 varsity teams and 400 student-athletes. The more-than-20-year relationship with Special Olympics New York includes swim lessons in the College pool from October to May, an annual swimmeet, even a biennial horse show at the Van Lennep Riding Center. Started by the student volunteer club Benef-action, the swim program relies on SAAC’s recruitment of Thoroughbreds from all sports. The Team spirit embraces the wider community Coach Curt Speerschneider joins his tennis players in preparing donations for low-income Saratogians. HELPING HANDS