April 13, 2009 issue
Goshen: Maple Leafs’ teamwork means serving others
By Josh Gleason Goshen CollegePage:
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GOSHEN, Ind. — In athletics, the word “community” most often relates to creating a close-knit team.
Goshen College senior Bryce Bow of Muncie helps lead a basketball clinic at a Goshen elementary school. The team spent the month of September — along with rigorous days of conditioning before their season began — traveling to schools to put on clinics. — Photo by Josh Gleason/Goshen College
For the Goshen College Athletic Department’s 200-plus student-athletes, the 2008-09 school year has been a lesson in a more complete definition of community through a new project, “Leaf Relief.”
Formed around the school’s mascot — the Maple Leaf — and the college’s core value of servant leadership, Leaf Relief is now an annual effort to help those in need.
With a motto, “Leaf Belief Is to Give Relief,” the three main goals are raising awareness of worthy causes, taking part in community service projects and raising funds for humanitarian efforts.
“We wanted to show how our student-athletes embrace the college’s motto of Culture for Service,” said women’s basketball coach Steve Wiktorowski, who initiated the program.
“It has enlarged our athletic community with everyone working together for a single cause, even though it has been done in different and unique ways.”
Maple Leaf student-athletes have been active in the local community through projects such as free basketball clinics for elementary school children, providing safety patrols on Halloween, a Toys for Tots drive and a Family Fun Fest, which brought more than 100 kids to campus.
Non-traditional ideas of community service have set the program apart. One was a men’s basketball team trip to a maximum-security prison in Michigan for a scrimmage.
“I think we all had certain stereotypes of what prison was like from movies and other media, but the trip really broke many of those down for us,” said Bryce Bow, a senior from Muncie.
“We enjoyed the opportunity to move out of our comfort zone and reach out to a group of people whom much of society has given up on.”
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