A soccer tradition continues

Following the lead of alumni Peter Brownell and Chris Markham, Skidmore?s varsity soccer teams this spring continued an alliance with Soccer Without Borders. They could not have picked a better week to do it.

With clear skies and lots of sunshine, volunteers from the squad and 115 eager young soccer players gathered at the College?s Wachenheim Field for the second annual Skidmore Soccer Spring Break Camp, which concludes Friday, April 17.

?The idea for the clinic came from Pete (Brownell) and Chris (Markham) last year, and we could see the kids really enjoyed it. They did a lot of the organizing, and now we are just trying to continue to contribute to this great cause,? said men?s soccer co-captain Mark Roseboom ?09.

Camp started Tuesday, April 14, meeting daily from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. during the local school district?s spring break. The clinic is open to boys and girls ages eight and up.

Skidmore athletes, in the role of counselors, divided their time between the clinic and a busy class schedule. They took the campers through drills like the ones they themselves went through in varsity soccer practices, teaching basic skills such as dribbling, passing, and shooting that are necessary to play at the next level.

?Development starts early for soccer, and it?s important to promote good (soccer) habits to the younger kids who are just beginning,? said women?s soccer co-captain Rachael Sushner ?09.

All proceeds from the camp go to Soccer Without Borders, a volunteer-based program that strives to make positive changes in the lives of youth through the game of soccer. Proceeds support the development of programs that will enrich the lives of young soccer players around the world.

?Every morning we talk about the organization and how what we are doing relates to people around the world,? said Sushner. ?We showed them a picture of where the money goes and how it helps the underprivileged children in Africa learn the game of soccer.?

The approximately $4,500 dollars raised this year will fund a development program in Uganda, which was started with the $4,650 raised from the clinic last year.

One exciting addition this year was a pen-pal program, suggested by Soccer Without Borders to help the kids communicate with their counterparts in Africa. ?We had the campers put a letter or a picture together to send to Uganda, like a pen pal, so that they could start to understand more and communicate with kids their own age around the world,? said Roseboom.

And the young clinic participants are certainly aware of the worthy cause.

?The counselors read us a letter that the director of Soccer Without Borders sent to them. We are helping the kids in Africa, and also learning a lot of new skills,? said 13-year-old Taylor Pectal of South Glens Falls. Pectal was part of a group of five girls from Glens Falls, who arranged an outstanding flyer with pictures of each of them to send to their new pen pals.

The organizers had a lot of help from their peers, who were the subjects of much admiration from their younger students. Other Skidmore students that were involved were Doug Yeates, Amanda Roth, Mariel Jefferson, Laura Groetzinger, Evan Pasha, Meghan Sleezer, Eric Hultquist, Sarah Whateley, Nick Peterson, Erin Donnellan, Brian Perrier, Matt Kelsey, Lindsay Schmitt, Gabby Palacio, Austin Fisher, Taylor Anderson, Matt Wolff, Sam Glickman, Frank Carillo, Dana Brill, Dan von Allmen, Elena Stansky, Catherine Kapustynski, Abby Benton, Kevin Regan, Arturo Villalobos, Pat Wildes, Ernie Economides, Kate Hartshorn, Erica Coolbaugh, Katie Crapulli, Nick Cinquino, Lucas Millington, Megan Beaulieu-Jones, Steve Hazarian, and Leila Wendler.

Click here to learn more about the Soccer Without Borders. www.soccerwithoutborders.org. ~ By Sytiva Seitz