The Aurora University men's soccer team took time out of their athletic and academic schedule to spend time helping those less fortunate. On Saturday, September 15, members of Spartan men's team spent time with
TOPSoccer in Addison, Ill. TOPSoccer (The Outreach program for Soccer) is a community-based training and team placement program for young athletes with special needs. TOPSoccer committee provides meaningful learning, development and physical participation opportunities to these young athletes through the game of soccer.
"We as a program stress that we have a responsibility to involve ourselves in our community in any way that we can, and this service project allows us to reach outside of the campus to make a difference,” said head coach Amir St. Clair. “We see these service opportunities as a chance to use our innate gifts to help others and truly make a difference in the lives of those around us."
St. Clair and graduate assistant Nick Rizzo led the team in the community service event that was spent as a
team building experience in addition to helping those in need. The Spartans worked as buddies for the players of various age groups and then signed autographs at the conclusion of the event.
"We enjoyed this opportunity for a variety of reasons, working with these kids and seeing their enjoyment and love for the game of soccer makes us realize how lucky we are to have the opportunities that we have,” said sophomore
Shane Samuels. “You can tell that they truly love the game and sharing their time with us as well. We feel that doing this type of service helps us to see how much we can impact their lives and how they can impact ours."
"A special thank you to coaches St. Clair and Rizzo who brought the Aurora University team out to be our buddies today,” said Shawn Danhouser from TOPSoccer. “They were great with the kids and they gave us this special gift!"
Next action for the Spartan men's soccer team comes on Wednesday, September 19 when they travel to Marian University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Fond du lac, Wis.
