Athletes reach out to city kids on Youth Day

What are you doing this Saturday? Sleeping late? Catching up on your work? Well, if you're heading out to the Yale Bowl, you won't be alone. Around 400 elementary school students from the New Haven area are planning to converge on the Yale Athletic Fields for the Athletic Department's Fall Youth Day. A day filled with sports and learning awaits the children.

Community Outreach Program, a nationally recognized organization of the Athletic Department, sponsors Youth Day annually so that area kids have an opportunity to interact with Yale athletes. In the past, the event has proved to be a great success. "Last year, I was really happy. Our coach was there, the women's ice hockey team helped us out , and it went really well. The youngsters arrive at 9 a.m. in groups of 30-50, and the Yale fields take on a festive atmosphere as hundreds of kids chatter with excitement and music plays in the background," said men's ice hockey captain Ray Giroux, BK '98.

The day begins with clinics, which are run by varsity team members from up to eight different sports teams and clubs. Participants learn some of the basic skills for each individual sport, and have the opportunity to meet and talk to many of the University's finest athletes.

Many of the children in attendance have had little exposure to sports other than football and basketball, and this weekend, the students will be able to try some new sports for the first time in their lives. A complimentary picnic lunch follows the morning's activities.

Courtesy Sharon Katz AIM HIGH: Kris Merkler, SY '99, teaches New Haven kids hockey basics at last year's Youth Day

In the afternoon, the participating students are admitted free to any Yale athletic event. Many attend Youth Day as part of an after-school or church group, and so chaperones are admitted free of charge as well. The groups spend the day together while traveling between clinics and usually attend the afternoon events together as well.

Among the teams participating are football, basketball, track, and field hockey. The athletes who run the clinics try to teach the basic principles of the games to the kids and allow the kids to try out the sport. Underlying themes such as teamwork, self-confidence, and education run throughout the clinics, but are not forced to the forefront. Most of all, athletes try to make the clinics as fun as possible.

Fall Youth Day has been a popular activity for both Yale students and its young participants for the past four years. With progressively higher attendance each year, Youth Day has become an important link between Yale and New Haven. The program also coordinates a similar event in the spring of each year, which is traditionally a larger function.

"Over 2,000 invitations were sent out to Connecticut elementary schools and youth groups inviting them to attend Fall function," Dave Lewicki, TC '97, said. Lewicki was very active with the Community Outreach Program as an undergraduate, and now works in the athletic office coordinating programs like Youth Day. Spring Youth Day follows the same format, but offers clinics in different sports. Because many of the athletes who participate in the Youth Days are involved from year-to-year, they develop relationships with the returning participants. With this continuity, students can look forward to seeing their Yale friends at the Youth Days. "I think it's really rewarding," Giroux said. "It's a big opportunity for the kids. It's not something they do all the time, and you can see you've made their day."

The Community Outreach Program, which is entirely student-run, was developed four years ago to allow varsity athletes to be active in the community without disrupting their practice schedules. Many of the athletes were involved in their communities while they were in high school, but once they arrived at Yale, Dwight Hall programs generally conflicted with practice and game times. "When I was a kid, all I did was play sports. I wanted to provide the same opportunities to some area kids who may not have the same access to facilities that I did," Lewicki added.

When Tom Beckett was hired as the Athletic Director, a new initiative was formed. Beckett, along with Assistant Athletic Director Tim Ford, led the department's increased efforts to reach out to the New Haven community. Prior to Beckett's arrival, the athletic department had several community service programs operating, but there was very little continuity throughout the different organizations.

"We wanted to centralize the groups under one committee to facilitate more extensive involvement of the athletes, coaches and whole teams," Ford said.

Three student leaders, Sharon Katz, MC '99, Kate Niles, BK '00, and Reid Lerner, BR '99, work with Ford and Lewicki to coordinate the activity.

"It's really exciting and exhilirating," Katz said. "You don't expect to come away with what you do. You play sports with them and they want to do it. Getting a kid to talk who's shy and quiet is really exciting. You get to know more about the kids, and you get a peek at their personalities."

Earlier this year, the Yale Community Outreach Committee was acknowledged as the top program of its kind in the country. The magazine Athletic Management annually rates the athletic departments of high schools and universities throughout the United States, and this year Yale was recognized for its excellence.

The magazine lauded Yale's program for being predominantly student-driven. They were also impressed by the level of voluntary involvement in evidence, despite the lack of mandatory team participation in the community outreach activities.

Although the Outreach Committee was not previously a Dwight Hall organization, it has gained tenure on the board. This year, Dwight Hall activities will be coordinated so that more athletes can become involved in the community, and more non-athletes can participate in activities like Youth Day. For now, the committee is focusing more on activities which require a single time commitment rather than extensive year-long efforts.

In this way athletes can become involved in the New Haven community without worrying about interrupting their competitive schedules. Beyond Youth Day, there is additional focus on "Make A Difference Day," a single day project where student-athletes team up with area elementary school kids and complete a service-oriented project.

Anybody who is interested in reaching out to their community can participate in programs organized by the Community Outreach Committee. Because the volunteers are predominantly athletes, the time commitment is usually considerably less than that of other Dwight Hall programs. The program has begun to extend itself and has tried to incorporate more non-athletes into its activities.

Youth Day is truly a treat for the kids involved. They have the opportunity to interact with Yale University students who they may never have had the chance to meet otherwise, and have the opportunity to meet some successful athletes on a personal level.

"It is surprising how quickly the kids form relationships with the athletes.... The best part of the day is seeing all of the beaming smiles on their faces," Ford said.

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