DGK in Action: Winter 2018/2019

 2018/2019 Dynasty Winter Camps

As per the usual the Dynasty Winter Camps lived up to their name and brought along plenty of WINTER weather!  However, the Dynasty goalkeepers and staff were up to the challenge and “embraced the suck” to further develop our goalkeeping skills and prepare for our upcoming spring seasons!  On December 8th the Carolina Winter Camp goalkeepers braved cold and wind on day one of camp.  Then eight inches of snow fell overnight forcing us to reschedule our second day to January 5th.  Fortunately January brought milder temps, but also plenty of rain and mud.  That still was no challenge for our committed crew of gks!

Our second winter camp was held January 19/20 just north of Atlanta in Lawrenceville, GA at Georgia Gwinnett College.  Our first day was cold, windy, and rain ALL day!  And the second day we never made it over 35 degrees and we were likely below freezing with the wind chill factor! But as you can see from the photo below everyone came dressed for the weather and the right mentality!  Not even one complaint was heard, everyone came motivated and eager to push and learn!  We had a blast reuniting with some of our repeats students while also bringing some new goalkeepers into the Dynasty family!  LOVED seeing so many committed goalkeepers and appreciate the support they got from their parents too!  If you can train in these conditions everything else is easy!!!  This is how you “earn the right” to be confident!

2018 COMMUNITY OUTREACH CHALLENGE

In addition to the Camp Homework I assign students every year, I also challenge my camp students to become involved in their community to raise their awareness of the global community around them.  It is far too easy to get swept up into our busy lives, the daily grind, and our own microscopic circle of influence.  I am certainly a culprit of that.  Hence the Dynasty Goalkeeping Community Outreach Challenge was developed to get ALL of us to broaden our circles of influence!

Initially the program began with students donating gear for children in need around the world and has grown from there. Thus far Dynasty has been involved with the following organizations Carolina For Kibera, Coaches Across Continents, They Often Cry Outreach (TOCO), Equipment Across Continents (a branch of Coaches Across Continents), the U.S. State Department (cultural exchange and female empowerment programs), Sports United (a cultural exchange program organized through the U.S. State Department.

In 2010 the Dynasty Goalkeeping Community Outreach Challenge took our generosity one step further. I challenged students to ACT BEYOND THEMSELVES and get involved with a project that meant something to them and to ‘donate’ some of their TIME to help others. The feedback I received from the students and parents was tremendous, so giving back to your community has become a core value of the Dynasty family of goalkeepers.

It is in acting that we have our most profound effect, because there simply is nothing more valuable than your time. So to set aside some of your precious time to help another human being (animal or the planet) speaks volumes. The recipient will certainly be tremendously grateful for any help you can give, but the effect it will have on your own life will be were the most value lies. The gratitude and love you receive back from the people you help is addicting and powerful. Try it and you will see what I mean.

Here is the list of the volunteer work that Dynasty staff and students (listed by the camp week they attended) reported in 2018! This is GREAT STUFF! I am proud of all of you — you guys inspire me to do more!!!

If you were a 2018 student/staff that did volunteer this year and your name isn’t on this list it is because you didn’t email me! I can’t report on something I don’t know! Please email me so I can update!

STAFF

MARZIA JOSEPHSON – Spring & Fall 2018 – Cary, NC

Marz’s main community service work this year was spreading her love of the game through coaching.  She spent countless hours volunteering coaching, primarily goalkeepers. Aside from helping out whenever she could with sessions at NCFC, she mainly helped with Apex Friendship Middle School (~ 6 hours) and the North Carolina FC Elite Technique program (~30 hours). With Elite Technique she would help set up, run, and coach kids during the drills on most Friday nights for 3 hours as long as she wasn’t traveling with her own team.  Marz shared these thoughts on her service work, “Honestly, I love doing this. I always enjoy helping coach. Not only do I get to have fun with the players, but I also get to give back to the sport I love. Soccer has given me countless memories and opportunities, so it feels great to pay it forward. From all this I actually realized that at some point down the road, I want to make coaching my profession.”

TRACY NOONAN – Spring & Fall 2018 – Chapel Hill, NC

In 2018 I continued volunteering as a goalkeeper coach for both the boy’s (fall) and girl’s (spring) squads (varsity and JV) at Chapel Hill High School.  Due to my work commitments in coordination with a very full high school game schedule AND a ridiculous amount of RAIN this fall I was only able to coach the girls in April/May for three sessions (~6 hours) and the boys in August – October for 3 sessions (~ 6 hours).  I thoroughly enjoy the high school environment; the camaraderie, the fun, the overall vibe created by the coaching staff, and especially the kids.  It is extremely rewarding to witness the growth of the boys and girls I have been working with over the past 3 years.  Mainly I appreciate the genuine surprise, excitement, and appreciation I receive from the goalkeepers when I would unexpectedly show up at a session.  Goalkeeper specific training at the high school level is extremely rare, which is why I like to give back to my local community in this way.  I can provide players who may not have the opportunity to afford private training or attend club gk group training have a chance to improve their skills, learn the position better, and hopefully enjoy the game more.
While I always wish I could get out to training more often to help my students, I know from their faces and how eager they are when I am there that even a small gesture of time can make an impact, so never feel like a small commitment isn’t enough.

Also of note BOTH the Chapel Hill Girl’s and Boy’s teams won the NC 3A High School State Championship!!! (spring and fall)  For the boys that made it two years in a row!  IMPRESSIVE streak for the coaching staff (same staff for boy’s and girl’s).

STUDENTS

WEEK 1

EMMA HILL – Spring 2018 – Salisbury, MD

For the past few years Emma’s community outreach project has been coaching youth goalkeepers in her hometown.  However, upon relocating to her new community for college Emma learned that there is a large population of people in Salisbury Maryland who do not have their basic, food, water, and shelter needs met. Thus she began volunteering at Halo every Friday morning for 3 hours for a few months throughout her spring semester. Halo is an organization that provides homeless people in Salisbury with food, water and shelter for two hours, three times a day. People of all ages come to Halo everyday. Many of these people are juggling their work or school schedules to find time to come get food.  Emma and a few teammates went to Halo on Friday mornings to cook a warm meal for all of these wonderful people.  Emma shared that through this experience she was able to meet and connect with many diverse people in her community.  In addition to assisting with the meal prep Emma would also help some kids with their math homework before they went to school, played hide and seek with toddlers, or just sit and talk to young adults about what makes them happy. These are all very small things to most of us, but Emma could see the difference a little kindness, attention, and love made in their lives.  According to Emma, “Halo is more than cooking a warm meal for people, Halo gives us an opportunity to make these people forget about all of their problems for a few hours over a warm nutritious meal.”

WEEK 2

RAEGAN BEEDING – August 2018 – May 2019 – Grain Valley, MO

This past year and into the spring of 2019 Raegan has been volunteering several days a month with kids that are staying at Children’s Mercy Hospital. She bring crafts and fun activities to do with them and on other days they just watch a movie together.  Raegan found her inspiration for this project when her mother’s friend, a nurse at the local hospital, shared that the nurses used to be able to do fun things with the kids, however it is harder to make time with how many sick children there are right now. 🙁  She said it is a HUGE help when citizens come to their hospital and are able to have fun with them.  On top of that, Raegan also helps the families that have kids in the hospital through the Ronald McDonald House by making meals for them and a snack/toiletry bag for them every month.

CAROLINE DOSS – Winter – Greensboro, NC

This past winter Caroline volunteered for Greensboro TopSoccer on Sundays for 2 months (~ 16 hours total).  Every Sunday, the group played soccer with children who have disabilities. Throughout those 2 months, Caroline worked specifically with Ozzy, a little boy with a severe mental disability. Caroline shared that, “Even though it was challenging for him to communicate, Ozzy and I formed a strong friendship. I began to recognize what he enjoyed. He loved to run, jump, and kick the soccer ball around. He was so happy when he scored a goal, or even got to play on his own. This experience taught me to ALWAYS be grateful for the blessing in my life and the capabilities I do have. Ozzy taught me than I can ever do for him.  Even my worst day playing soccer or living my life is someone’s best day. I now just try to enjoy the opportunities and privileges that I experience every day. I loved working with TopSoccer, and plan on doing it again this winter!”

KELSEY HOOPES – Spring 2018 – Livermore, CA

This year at school Kelsey was involved in a club named Choose The Right. Through this club students participate in local and on-campus community service. Some of the projects they undertook this year were cleaning under our school bleachers after a rally, and cleaning our hallways before each school play. Next year Kelsey plans to  be the historian for the club, and hopefully the year after that Vice President.  In addition Kelsey also was involved in the Livermore Community Day of Service on April 21,2018.  She volunteered for roughly 3-4 hours at the local elementary school. The students at the school had already painted “kindness” rocks and their principle wanted to put these rocks around a garden in cement. So Kelsey and her family, along with others, mixed cement and carefully placed the rocks around their garden.  Kelsey got a good taste of manual labor carrying very heavy bags of cement along with filling buckets of water needed to mix the cement, but at the end of the day really enjoying seeing the project come to life!

PAIGE NURKIN – Spring 2018 – Nicaragua

Over her spring break Paige was able to return to Nicaragua where she had previously volunteered in 2017 to work with Nica Nadadores again. The goal of the program is to give kids of all ages (6-20+) a chance to be student athletes as well as teach them important life skills and habits. Through swimming, the kids are taught discipline, respect, responsibility, and time management. The focus is both on the student and the athlete as the children must make acceptable grades in school to stay in the program and Nica provides scholarships to private schools for many of the athletes. Paige enjoyed reuniting with children from last year, making new friends, and assisted with swim coaching and other community projects as needed.  In addition to going to Nicaragua, Paige also joined service learning committee this year to help raise money for Nica Nadadores as part of the all-school service project. Overall, they were very successful and ended up raising over $20K, as well as hundreds of pounds of school supplies to donate to the program.

WOW!  That amount of money and supplies will REALLY go a LONG way and make a HUGE impact!  Well done!

EMMA WAKEMAN– Spring 2018 – Costa Rica

This past spring as part of the Region III Soccer Team Emma traveled to Costa Rica.  As part of the trip they were able to volunteer through the San Jose Community Center (service was organized by Costa Rica Soccer Tours).  During her time at the center Emma (along with her teammates) mainly played games and entertained the children.  The goal was to have FUN!  Most of the children at the center were there all day while their parents worked multiple jobs to provide income.  Emma shared, “The children were incredibly kind; the first time we met them they gave us the biggest hugs!!! We played tag, soccer, jumped rope, and had an amazing time, despite the language barrier.  I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!”

WEEK 4

GEORGIA HENKEL – 2018 – Houston, TX

Georgia was involved with several organizations in her school and community this year.  All spring semester she served as a tutor (~6 hrs) and teaching assistant (every other day in class) for newcomers and non-English speaking students (ESL) at Stratford High School.  She also volunteered to help at Harrison’s Heroes Gala which raises money to make hospital experiences better for children in critical condition and/or with long term stays.  At the gala on February 2nd Georgia used her power of persuasion to convince  attendees to buy raffle tickets in support the organization (~6 hrs). In April Georgia participated in an Academy of Science and Engineering car wash (~2 hrs) helping to raise funds for their organization.

Over the summer in August (~6 hrs) Georgia continued her outreach with the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Office- Green Building Department helping teach kids about recycling and environmentally friendly living.  LOVE THIS!!! She also assisted at the beginning of the school year in August (~6 hrs) at Stratford High School with class registration.

In the fall Georgia continued with tutoring through Family Point After School Program (3hrs) as well as football players at her high school (~2 hrs) and Generation One After School Program which provides tutoring and mentorship for underprivileged kids in the Third Ward of Houston (4+ hrs)

Lastly,  as part of the Tri Theta/Senior Girls organization Georgia put in over 15+ hours of work helping with pep rallies and painting signs for the football team.

I don’t know how Georgia manages to find the time between her school, soccer, and social calendars, but clearly she is very good with her time management and committed to giving back!  I love the variety of Gerogia’s involvement in her community and that she has made giving back a consistent part of her life.  GREAT EXAMPLE for us all!

BRENNA MURRAY – Spring 2018 – Raleigh, NC

Akin to Georgia, Brenna is also a community service stud!  She is the Vice President and a founding officer of Pride Players Club at Leesville Road HS, a service club specifically for athletes, giving them an opportunity to have time for school and community service.  Brenna shared that 2018 was a great year for their group with membership growing to 50+ members with an average of 30+ at all our meetings and events. Some projects they did this past year included making Halloween baskets for their school counselors, writing cards to a volleyball player at Apex Friendship HS who was fighting cancer (thrilled to say she beat it over the summer!) as well as making dog treats for the local animal shelter and summer gift bags for the local children’s hospital. The group meets 1-2 times a month for an hour, and as an officer Brenna spent about 3 extra hours a month planning, organizing, and setting up service activities.

She is also involved in National Honor Society at Leesville where she participates in a wide variety of service, including tutoring other high school and elementary students. This amounted to about 3 hours of service each school month through club events, plus another 15 hours of summer service.

Brenna is also the Vice President of National Latin Honor Society.  NLHS runs the winter coat drive at Leesville and participates in trick or treat for UNICEF.  They meet about 2x a month for about an hour and do much more than discuss the ancient Romans!  🙂

In addition in the fall Brenna took a PEPI class at her school.  PEPI stands for Physical Education Pupil Instructors, teaching both elementary and special needs kids games and life skills in the classroom. While the class itself is not service, Brenna gained several service opportunities through this class such as volunteering at Winter Special Olympics.  Brenna shared that, “It was on of the most fulfilling and fun things I have ever done! Truly filled my heart to see the kids we teach every week succeed in such a fun and inclusive environment. In 2019 I plan on volunteering with First in Fitness, spring Special Olympics and Miracle League.”

Finally, Brenna has been an officer on class council since freshman year, so in 2018 she served as Junior and Senior class secretary. As such she spent countless hours working on school related projects; anything from helping the school food drive to setting up for prom.  She estimated roughly 6 hours during school months with class council working on and discussing various activities.

Brenna, summed up her high school volunteer experiences with the following thoughts;

“I would say my service work has influenced me greatly during my high school years. 2018 was an especially great year and I feel I not only connected with the people I helped serve, but some of my strongest friendships were formed through clubs like these and service opportunities. I love helping others – not only does it keep me busy, but there is nothing better than the feeling of taking time out of your life to do something that benefits you in no way other than the feeling that you are left with! Through service work I have realized the importance of helping others, and I hope to find ways to continue doing so as I head into college.”

IMPRESSIVE commitment and AWESOME insight Brenna!

GRACE SPRIGGS – Spring 2018 – New Orleans, LA

This past spring Grace and her family went to several tennis courts in her area and picked up five gallon buckets of tennis balls as well as collecting several hundred dog bones to donate to the ASPCA in New Orleans, LA.   The organization (and the dogs!) were excited to get both.  They have 30 dogs up for adoption at a time so getting some bones and balls as an extra special treat and exercise for the dogs was very much appreciated!

I loved that Grace took the initiative to create her own way to give back!

ALEXCINA WARTSKI – Spring & Summer 2018 – Hillsborough & Durham, NC

This year Alex volunteered at the middle school next to her high school, Eno River Academy, as a coach for their team. She worked with the middle school keepers around twice a week for a period of 3 months, and she said it was one of the most rewarding experiences in her life so far. She started with a lot on basic positioning and handling but then was able to layering in more complex topics such as diving and breakaways. In addition she mentored them on mentality and emotional control covering topics such as confidence as well as their relationships with teammates. Alex found it rewarding to be a part of their individual development and overall success as the team came in second place in a charter school tournament as well as having an undefeated season in the regular season.

Over the summer Alex interned for the Durham Bulls in the Explore Post 50 program. It is an unpaid internship that broadcasts the Bull’s home games. Alex said the experience really strengthened her love for cameras and broadcasting.

WEEK 5

ROSE MARY ANDERS – Fall/Winter 2018 – New Hill, NC

Rose Mary recently began volunteering at a place called Horse and Buddy. Horse and Buddy helps children with mental and physical challenges learn to ride horses which acts as a form of therapy for the children.  Rose Mary is a “side walker” so her job is to walk beside the horse to make sure the rider is safe and secure while helping them to perform the tasks given to them by the instructor.  She has logged roughly 20 hours of service thus far and stated that, “I love volunteering there because the children, even though they have disabilities, are so happy and excited to learn. They humble me because even though they face greater challenges they find the joy in the smallest things which is something I struggle to do.” 

That’s GREAT perspective for all of us!

GRAYSEN ASHER – Summer 2018 – Sugar Hill, GA

This summer Graysen volunteered  at Alpharetta Presbyterian Church as a youth leader for Vacation Bible School. She worked for 4 hours serving snacks to preschoolers and reinforcing the message of the day.

MADDIE BLACK – November 2017 – May 2018 – West Palm Beach, FL

Maddie amassed a stunning 95 hours of volunteer work over the course of six months at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.  She volunteered on Sunday afternoons during the school year working behind the reception/welcome desk at the front door of the main entrance to the hospital.  Her main responsibility was to print out visitors stickers and provide directions for visitors to navigate the hospital. Sometimes, she was able to deliver flowers or gifts to patients room and return wheelchairs to nurse stations that needed them.  “I thought that this experience was a great way to get to know the hospital and see what really goes on inside a hospital. It wasn’t that busy to fit in the hours and it was a perfect opportunity for a student with a crazy schedule!”

MARINA BONI – May 26, 2018 – Aiken, SC

Marina volunteered for four hours on The Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend at Grace Kitchen at Saint John’s United Methodist Church.  Grace Kitchen is a weekly event that offers a free and healthy breakfast for people who need the help in Aiken, SC. They feed kids, elderly people, families, workers, and people that Marina said looked “just like me”.  They started the day by helping cook and prepare the food. Then as people arrived, they helped serve the food and made to-go plates for those in need to take home later.  her work concluded after the meal with cleaning up the kitchen and the dining room.  Marina said she was most struck by how many people needed help in her small town.

EMMY CLARKSON – Spring 2018 – Frederick, MD

In this past year Emmy completed two community service projects for a total of 13 hours). Her first project was to help a local teacher in the Frederick County school system move her classroom.  Over the course of 5 hours (from 10a to 3p) we cleaned and packed up her classroom and nearly got her settled  in her new classroom.

Her second project was to help a young team of female soccer players. She served as a volunteer coach at practices through out the spring season showing the girls how to improve their foot skills sharing her knowledge of the game.

ZOE COMBEE – June 10-15, 2018 – Polk City, FL

In June Zoe volunteered for 40 hours at Camp Gilead in Polk City, FL.  She served as a SALT member(Service and Leadership Training) working in the background washing dishes, serving food, and cleaning the cafeteria during every meal. They also clean the camp and work in other locations of the camp as needed as well as interacting with the kids at the camp, joining them in chapel and other activities. Zoe expressed that it was a very humbling experience and that she hopes to be able to do again.

 

KATE LEWIS – July 2018 – Saint Louis, MO

In early July Kate volunteered her time to play baseball with people who have special needs through Challenger Baseball program in St. Louis. This is a program that gives children and adults with disabilities the ability to play baseball.  Kate was a buddy to a couple of kids.  She shared that she chose this service project because, “I like kids and I love sports.  I thought about doing work with the humane society where I could read to dogs in the pound.  I just thought this would be more fun and I could meet new people.”

On her day of service Kate (who by the way was 11 at the time) worked the 9:00a game and the 10:30a game.  In the 9:00 game, she helped by being the catcher.  Kate found out this was a really tiring job because every player bats until they hit the ball.  They missed the ball a lot so she had to throw the ball to the pitcher over and over again.  🙂 In addition she didn’t get to talk with the players much either which always makes the experience much more fulfilling!  However, Kate felt that the 10:30 game was much more exciting!  in this game she was placed in the outfield with two players who were in elementary school.  The little girl liked baseball, but loved butterflies!  So they spent a lot of time running after the butterflies in the outfield. She also liked to climb trees, so Kate said it was hard getting her to focus on the game. 🙂 The other boy liked the game of baseball and was much more independent.  He used sign language to communicate which Kate said was hard to understand, but she was able to figured out the gist most of the time when he pointed at her and then pointed to where he wanted her to go.

Overall Kate felt it was a fun day.  Her thoughts about her experience; “I laughed a lot and the kids were so happy to be playing sports.  I learned that even though these kids have disabilities, they want to play sports and have fun just like me.  I also learned they have great personalities.  I want to do it again next summer!”

WEEK 6

EMMIE ALLEN – 2018 – High Point, NC

This year Emmie volunteered with PTFC camps (~10 hrs) as a coach helping facilitate the training sessions at the camps.  “I really enjoyed helping younger goalkeepers learn the aspects of becoming a goalkeeper.” 

What a great way to give back  — by doing something you love!

TAYLOR MONTAGUE – Spring 2018 – Durham, NC

Similar to Emmie, Taylor also volunteered in sports, sharing her passion of both soccer and baseball with the youth in the community.  In the spring Taylor volunteered with NCFC to help the under 4 age group play soccer.  Over three Saturdays in March and April she volunteered from 10a-12p. She demonstrated various skill and led the kids in different fun games.  Then in May Taylor worked with Miracle League on 3 different Saturdays for 2.5 hours each day.  Miracle League creates an environment for special needs kids to play baseball.  Taylor’s responsibilities were to run the kids around the bases, toss the ball with them, and help them bat.

ABIGAIL SCOTT – Spring/Summer 2018 – Raleigh, NC

This year Abby gave back to the community through various avenues.  Through her club, NCFC she assisted in the NCFC Friday Night Lights Fundraiser (4 hrs).  This entailed checking in kids for a series of small sided games, manning fun game stations for the kids to win prizes, and cheering on the kids in games against the staff. The fundraiser is used to support the NCFC financial aid scholarship program.  She also participated in a team toy drive for Toys for Tots of Wake County as well as another NCFC outreach project making Valentines bags and cards for Duke Children’s Hospital (2 hrs).

And like Taylor Montague Abby also participated in the NCFC program coaching under 4 players on technique in March and April. Lastly, over the summer months Abby coached kids from preschool to elementary school age at her school (North Raleigh Christian Academy) soccer camp from 8a-12p each day.

 

GREAT WORK 2018 DYNASTY STUDENTS!

You continue to inspire me with all your community outreach projects!