GOAL program promotes “family, school, football”

Home Sports 2016 GOAL program promotes “family, school, football”
GOAL program promotes “family, school, football”
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Junior Luke Ens laughs with a group of young football players that he coached through GOAL Sports in the Community program. (Photo: Luke Robson / Hillsdale Collegian)

The elementary school-aged football team huddled up after their game. In the middle of the huddle stood “Beef Cake,” the son of Dean of Men Aaron Petersen. He was motivating his teammates as one of the leaders on the team. After he’d said everything he needed, he sent them off.

“Alright, get outta here,” he said. “You all smell, go take a shower.”

It was one of many moments the football team enjoyed and the two coaches, both Hillsdale College students, got to share it, too.

Throughout the year, college students devote a few hours a week to coaching or assistant coaching a youth sports team through the GOAL Sports in the Community program led by senior Luke Robson and assisted by Dean of Men Aaron Petersen. Sports range from football, basketball, soccer, and baseball to kickball and potentially a shooting program in the future. Many of the children playing kickball and basketball come from Davis Middle School, but the other sports draw athletes from all over the community.

Typically, the youth are divided into teams by city administratives and coaches in order to keep the teams even and the sports fun. In the past, most football teams were coached by parents, but this year two students coached a team. Robson said the kids always have a blast, but the student coaches seem to enjoy the experience just as much.

Junior Luke Ens coached a football team this year, spending between five and eight hours a week at the field.

“I got to see the value of coaching football,” Ens said. “Especially for youth football, it’s a more than coaching the fundamentals and technique of football. It’s about teaching kids to come, work hard, and follow through with commitments. Some of the kids come from families where it’s nice for them to get out of the house. They love playing with their friends and they love playing football.”

Ens fell in love with football as a child. The fourth of five boys in his family, he grew up watching the sport and finally got to play it, under the coaching of his father. Watching his father coach inspired Ens, he said, and so last year he began assistant coaching, and this year, when asked, worked with senior Christian VanDeBurg as one of two student coaches leading the team.

“Coaching the kids was so much fun. You get to see their excitement every day. Every single day before practice, the kids have endless amounts of energy, which is both a good thing and a bad thing,” Ens said.

Finding the balance between fun and teaching proved to be a learning experience for Ens and VanDeBurg. They had to realize they couldn’t be “those fun coaches,” Ens said. But the kids loved messing around before practice. They would show up early to toss the ball, tackle each other without their gear on, and goof off.

The twice-weekly practices were fun, but never as fun as the Saturday games. After some pregame drills and stretches, the boys would begin playing. VanDeBurg led the huddles and helped the boys line up while Ens handled substitutions, making sure every child got to play. Because the teams were pretty even, games were often close — once, the teams tied 0-0, and some parents offered to pay for the teams to go for pizza afterward.

“Saturdays were always fun because you get to see their excitement level, and know that basically the entire program is made possible through the efforts of Dean Pete, Luke, and other coaches as well and fathers,” Ens said.

This year, Robson also invited sports leaders from the college and community, such as team captains and coaches, to speak to the youth football program about life lessons. Petersen spoke about the importance of “Family, school, football” after almost every practice, but others talked about responsibility, teamwork, and ethics.

“Danny Drummond taught them how to put their game face on and yell,” Robson said.

Football was fairly time intensive for the student volunteers, but the Ens thought it was worth it.

“It’s not work when you’re enjoying it. Activities like that are very enjoyable. I like to stay busy, and that’s a great way to do it: through volunteer efforts,” Ens said.

GOAL program director Alexis Garcia added that volunteering also provides students with an opportunity to focus on something other than schoolwork.

“I think volunteering helps give people a greater perspective. College can be pretty self-focused. We’re focused on our careers and studies and what we’re going to do with our lives and relationships, so volunteerism helps get people involved in the community,” Garcia said.

The sports seasons coming up don’t require as much commitment. Basketball season, starting soon, only involves two hour-long practices and one hour-long game each week. Robson recruited almost 15 students to coach these teams. When kickball begins, it will only be about one hour a week. Despite the time commitment, however, Robson and Ens agreed it’s more fun than it is work.

“It’s nice because it breaks you out of the Hillsdale bubble a little,” Robson said. “You see this whole different side of Hillsdale, and it makes the whole town feel more like a home. It makes the whole Hillsdale experience a lot better.”