NEWS
Introducing The C.A.R.E.S. Initiative
JANUARY 20, 2024
For decades, the John Jay Soccer Program has actively engaged in community involved activities, events, and fundraising. One of my own earliest and fondest memories as a member of the John Jay Soccer Program almost 25 years ago, was taking an afternoon over the summer and spending time and assisting with the recreational activities with a group of local community members with developmental disabilities at James Baird Park, through The Arc, which was organized by then John Jay Athletic Director Tom Knickerbocker, and Coach Seipp. To this day I still fondly look back on that time and day, which hits especially close to home as a now Special Education teacher for the past 17 years.
When I came back and joined the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant in 2015, it was fantastic to see that the program was still working in the community (as an example, a page showing that the team had adopted a family around the holidays and wrapped presents for them was prominently displayed on the old website at the time), and of course the James Caswell Memorial Scholarship Fund had been going for a decade, for members of our own program. Since then, the John Jay Booster Club has organized events such as this past year's Walk-A-Thon, where they raised over $1,400 for the Support Connection organization. Even small acts, such as collectively raking leaves as a program for senior citizens, which the soccer program did again, back when I was a player here, can impact the lives of our players and those they help, decades down the line. I can't help but think that I want to foster more of that, and additionally to focus on more than simply raising funds; but on service actions.
The result of decades of time and dedication from players, staff, and parents is the John Jay Soccer C.A.R.E.S. Initiative. Community, Action, Responsibility, Empathy, and Sportsmanship. The John Jay Soccer Program has, and will continue to be active in our local community; and we are looking to add a peer mentorship program, and expand upon our community efforts moving forward.
Over the past few years, since the COVID-19 Pandemic, as a teacher I have noticed a tremendous disconnect between teenagers (people in general, but especially teenagers) and the local community; and an unbelievable lack of empathy and understanding. In my own classroom, earlier this year when my colleagues and I were organizing a food drive, and explaining it to our students, I was horrified by the resounding response of, "Why? Who cares? Why should we do this?" In almost 20 years of education, I had never been met with such apathy from my students. It struck a major chord with me.
So we would like to urge, encourage, and guide them to "give back", and connect with one another, through acts of service. It can be anything, for anyone. Senior citizens, veterans, families in need. The list is never ending. Hopefully this will help lead to a lifetime of helping and supporting others, especially those less fortunate.
We are actively seeking out ideas, suggestions, or any sort of collaboration that our players and parents can think of that we can present to our players. We would like to celebrate these acts the same way we celebrate a team victory against our rivals. We would love each player in the program to be involved in a community "project" that we collectively decide upon, to connect them through giving back, and show them the power of collaboration off the soccer field, helping others.
If we have players who are already engaging in this type of service, please let us know! These are things that we want to celebrate and broadcast on our website and social media -- again, these are as or more important than our victories on the field!
Additionally, as mentioned above, we are working on implementing a mentorship program for new Varsity Team members to be partnered with returning Varsity Team members, again, to foster connection between peers. Those efforts of developing resources and procedures will be taking place from now until the Fall season, and again, we gladly welcome suggestions and input.
We have such an amazing group of individuals who have passed through the John Jay Soccer Program over the last 30+ years, as well as currently, and I think it is important that we push the envelope in developing not only fantastic soccer players, but fantastic young men, and help out in our local community in the process. Thank you in advance for your efforts moving forward.
Category: C.A.R.E.S. INITIATIVE