WORCESTER, Mass. --- On Thursday, August 6, the Worcester State University football squad got together with the Elm Park Ministries Day Camp for the second straight year to provide a fun-filled morning of activities for 70 children from around the local Worcester Community.
Throughout two sessions, nine football student-athletes taught the basics of tackling, running, catching and teamwork at Institute Park. The football players had the kids run through various stations before ending with a team relay race.
"It was great to interact with the kids, we learned about them and got to see how excited they were to hang out with us for the day" said senior Kemani Jones, a running back on the football squad.
In its sixth year, the Elm Park Ministries is a conglomerate of 10 different churches that fund a two-week summer program in the neighborhood near WPI. The staff, directors and counselors who are involved with the camp are trained professionals from Camp Calumet in New Hampshire. They work with around 60-70 campers for two weeks during the summer while also utilizing local volunteers as counselors in training.
"The Lancer Football Team visit to our camp is one of the highlights of our program. The guys know how to charge up the campers and by the end of the afternoon, everyone gets into it, even our kids from different countries. And most importantly, the players emphasize teamwork and effort" said Assistant Camp Director BJ Hill.
Hill, a 2009 alumnus of Worcester State, initially contacted the athletics department with the feeling that one of the sports teams would have an interest in running an outside activity with the campers. "I knew that if I approached a local college, one of the teams would be able to help us out, Worcester State would come through."
"I am excited for the collaboration with this camp to see the relationship with the kids and players only to get stronger in the future years" said by Athletics Coordinator of Student-Athlete Support Services Kelly Downs.
Senior defensive back, Brian Gencarelli said, "Working with the young kids. It's a great opportunity to show them what we do for practice and have them be apart of our team for the day. We learned what it takes to brings our guys together in order to work together to help these younger kids learn football".
And the kids had a great experience too. Nine-year old Alyssa enjoyed herself during the camp saying, "Tackling and jumping over the bags was my favorite part and even when we messed up they stopped to help us". Michael, 12 who never played football before was torn when asked about his favorite drill, "I loved catching and running with the ball and loved tackling the bags".
This camp has been such a huge success, that the Worcester State Women's Soccer team is getting involved in the same program.
The Worcester State Football Team poses for a group shot
Top row (left to right): Neil Flannigan, Jimmy King, Ryan Filliger, Eric LaRiviere | Bottom row (left to right): Donnell Boyd, Kemani Jones, Brian Gencarelli, Antonio Thomas, Hunter Paupaw
Early morning stretches as the campers and players get ready to play
Samie Jean and camper work on thier "quick feet" skills
Camper showing off thier speed in a running activity
Matt Lezama cheering on and directing the camper to victory
High fives all around!
"1... 2... 3... TEAMWORK!"
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