Kickin' it with College Kids brings soccer to youth

Community service at Hopkins has always been common within the student body. Occasionally, you'll hear about one or two events that warm your heart or bring back an important memory.

Back on Oct. 2, the Women's Soccer squad hosted a community service event on Homewood Field. They called it Kickin' it with College Kids, an event where children with many special needs from around the area were able to come and – like the name suggests – play some soccer. I went out and watched for a little while that day and got to see how happy those kids were.

This was actually the second year of the event, which looks to become an annual tradition for the soccer team. It was started in 2010 by senior Ava Scheininger, who took the initiative to get the team into action.

"It all started as an idea. I had always wanted to run an event like this and realized that Hopkins provided me with the resources to actually do it."

"We had 13 kids attend last year, and some parents loved the event so much they helped us spread the word to their communities," said Scheininger.

Sophomore Christina Convey stepped in to assist Scheininger this year, helping to run the event and hopefully take on the mantle next year.

"It means a lot to me to be able to give back to the community in such a fun way. It's just a few hours to help children with all types of disabilities have fun playing soccer," said Convey.

Spreading the word is exactly what those parents did, as that number went up from around 13 to 45. The team liked to maintain a 1:1 ratio with the kids coming in, so, in order to keep those numbers in order, the Men's team came in that Sunday as well.

The event had some significance to me as well. I knew some autistic kids back in high school, who love watching and participating in sports whenever they could.

On a personal note, I can't imagine how great it must have been for these kids to play along with the team and run around on a college sports field.

One of the best parts of the day was the type of direction that the kids put into it. "I told all the volunteers that on a day like today the kids run the show, and they certainly did," said Scheininger. Better words could not describe it.

And don't think that the kids were the only ones having a great time, either. Just about everyone there had a smile on their face by the end of the day. This was the type of community service event I wish we could see more of around here.

"It was really fun playing with the kids," said senior Kristen Redsun. "They had great attitudes, and it was awesome to see them having fun and getting to play soccer."

I don't mean to demean anything about some of the great things that Hopkins's students have done, as everything done in the spirit of community service has great value. Whether it's cleaning up parks, fixing up parts of Baltimore, or helping the elderly — it's all good stuff.

But there was something significant in this type of event that helped it stand out from a lot of the things I've seen around here. Maybe I'm just a big fan of people having fun.

I earnestly believe that making an impact in the life of a special needs child, even if only for a day out of the year, is one of the best things you can do with your time.

The parents also looked like they were having a great time. There were a lot of feelings of appreciation towards the team and what they did for the kids that day as well.

"It's gratifying to be able to watch my son play soccer with other kids — something he has been unable to do in typical programs. It means a lot to be with other families who understand — and celebrate the things our children can do. The athletes are fantastic role models for the kids and they have so much energy and enthusiasm," said Michelle Landrum, one of the parents present.

It was a chance for the kids to be more involved with sports than they had perhaps been able to on previous occasions.

"Sam, my four year old has delayed gross motor skills, including throwing & kicking, so I was hoping this experience would give him a basic introduction to kicking a ball, beyond what I have tried," said Terri Duncan, another mother.

"Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw him dribbling the ball all the way across the field with a huge smile on his rosy cheeked face. I know it gave him a sense of accomplishment and pride that he could do it too."

The event should be considered nothing less than a great success, not only for the team but really for the kids who got to play. Let's hope that the team carries on and continues to do this in the coming years.

The Women's Soccer Team will be having an autism benefit game on Oct. 19th. Go check out the game and support the cause in a halftime raffle which will include a bevy of great items, including Ravens tickets.