Fall Athletes Serve the Community
During preseason training, Principia College’s cross-country teams, along with the volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer teams, stepped away from the fields and courts and turned their attention to helping others. They visited Peace Haven, a St. Louis-area Christian Science care facility, to help with landscaping, paint residents’ fingernails, and lead a hymn sing. They even engaged some residents in a game of balloon volleyball!
"Singing hymns with the members of Peace Haven was a very touching and joy-filled experience,” commented senior Jessica Bushong, the volleyball team captain. “It meant a lot to all of us."
Another day, the women’s soccer team played with children at the Boys and Girls Club of Alton. Players organized a clinic and played warm-up games such as elbow tag, red light-green light, and sharks and minnows. The athletes also conducted ball-handling drills focused on passing, ball control, headers, and juggling. The session culminated in competitive scrimmages, where the children demonstrated their new skills.
Later in the week, the volleyball and cross-country teams conducted sports clinics on campus for residents of Beverly Farm, a residential community for adults with developmental disabilities. Some residents had little or no experience in volleyball and track and field, while others had participated in the Special Olympics and were eager to continue their training.
Principia volleyball players grouped the residents according to skill level for lessons in passing, setting, hitting, and serving. Afterward, athletes and residents alike enjoyed a game of 6 vs. 6 volleyball. Meanwhile, the cross-country athletes, many of whom are also on the track and field team, instructed a different group of Beverly Farm residents in high jump, long jump, hurdles, sprinting, and shot put. The joy of participation was evident throughout the activities. “I’m having so much fun!” one resident exclaimed. After working up an appetite, everyone enjoyed a picnic lunch together on the Pub patio.
“Principia athletic teams have incorporated the ‘week of giving’ into our preseason training for three years now, and it’s a perfect beginning to our season,” says Mary Ann Sprague, head volleyball coach. “What a great way to bond—reaching out beyond our team and looking to serve. The week gives us the chance to exercise the qualities of a perfect teammate—willingness, awareness of others, selflessness, and humility.”
Heather Fairbanks, the College’s sports information director, contributed to this article.