Growing up on Northampton Street within the South End, Kenny Francis says he doesn’t bear in mind seeing student-athletes from Boston College in his group.
“That has to change,” stated Francis, now BC’s assistant athletics director for scholar athlete formation and success. “BC is the only Power 5 institution in New England. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have more of a presence in Boston.”
The college is dedicated to altering that narrative, Francis instructed the Herald on Saturday, as a bunch of six Eagles soccer gamers interacted with the Boston Bengals Pop Warner program at Clifford Playground in Roxbury.
With the Eagles’ season set to kick off subsequent Saturday towards Northern Illinois at Alumni Stadium, Francis stated it’s vital for his school’s student-athletes to attach with the Boston group.
Giving again to the group repeatedly, Pat Garwo stated, is a purpose for the operating again as a result of it helps him bear in mind the background he got here from.
This summer season, Garwo, coming into his redshirt senior season, held a youth soccer camp in his hometown of Levittown, Pa. About 150 children attended, studying about psychological well being whereas training soccer.
“I take this very seriously, and there’s really nothing any bigger than this,” Garwo stated. “I just want to be a pillar of faith for the kids when they don’t see anything else in their light, that maybe we could be the light to motivate them.”
BC athletics will look to hold the reference to the Boston Bengals ahead this fall, Francis stated. The program can be invited to a soccer sport and to take a tour of the Chestnut Hill campus, he added.
Offensive lineman Nick Thomas, coming into his redshirt sophomore season, stated he’s impressed by how the Bengals come out to Clifford Playground each Saturday morning to apply even when the session is non-compulsory. Mandatory practices are held Monday-Friday.
The spillover from the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, a rising homeless encampment susceptible to violence and heavy drug use, has prompted the Bengals to relocate to McLaughlin Field in Jamaica Plain, merging with the Brookline JP Patriots.
“There is a lot of stuff that goes on around this park, from what I’ve heard, and it’s heartbreaking,” Thomas stated, “but at the end of the day, these kids have the opportunity to make decisions for themselves whether to go down the right path or wrong path. I see within each one of these kids a great attitude, great energy and they’re going to go down a great path.”
Giving alternatives for youth to succeed is nothing new for co-defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim. He is the founding father of Positive Choices, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that gives emotional and social help to kids from low-income backgrounds. His packages mix health and athletics with decision-making expertise and school and profession preparation.
Abdul-Rahim stated he desires to assist the Bengals past simply holding talking occasions. He want to fundraise or do something he can together with his platform to offer help.
“This is so familiar to me,” he stated. “It’s about life and having an example of positive people, (but) when you go into their community, there’s not a whole lot male or female role models, so the more we can do that the better off the whole world would be.”
Bengals assistant coach John Maye initiated Saturday’s interplay with the Eagles as a result of he wished to indicate that Clifford Playground generally is a protected house for kids.
“It’s more than just drugs. It’s more than people who are homeless,” he stated. “These kids need a safe area to play, and it shows that with the right organizations coming together, with the right people coming together, this is a safe area for these guys.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com