Edward Rudman – Sports Writer
One of the main goals of the Owl’s’ Football team this semester is to continue their past efforts of giving back to the community, recently taking part in donating food to the Mobile Food Pantry.
The pantry visits Connecticut Hall on the third Wednesday of every month and the football team makes sure to participate.
“I’m hoping we can really become a staple with the pantry amongst other things that we do on campus and the occasional off campus community service,” said Head Coach Tom Godek. “Right under our nose, there’s things that can be done to help our students and even members of our own team.”
An issue such as hunger may not necessarily be brought up as frequently as other current matters among students, but that does not mean it is not present on campus.
“As a freshman, it was my first time doing it and I thought it was nice that the upperclassmen invited us to be a part of it,” said Joe Digello. “Some players took stuff from the pantry, so you’re not just helping people around the campus but also some teammates as well and it felt good to give back.”
Under regular circumstances, a division two level student athlete, under, has a 20 hour per week training regimen and must stay on track of their academic tasks, and some may be doing this with a less than adequate food supply.
“Nobody likes to be hungry and it’s a hard thing to hear that and sometimes see that,” said Godek. “And it’s made me say to myself, like, I wonder if that kid ate at all today, and I saw him at 6am at a lift, he went to school, went home and came back for a 6pm practice., I wonder how much that person ate today?”
Godek spoke about how recruiting junior college athletes is especially “eye-opening” when it comes to the difference in opportunities provided to eat.
“When you’re recruiting a junior college player, it’s almost like a sick joke that ‘hey, we’re going to get recruited and maybe we’ll get 25 meals a semester if I live in North Campus,” said Godek. “There’s like a little running joke out there that ‘we just do it without eating,’ basically, and it’s pretty eye opening.”
It is matters like this that are why Godek takes community service seriously and his players understand how important it was to take part in the food pantry and give back to the community.
“You never know what somebody’s going through. You don’t know somebody’s lifestyle outside of school or just based on their appearance,” said Linebacker Marcel Walker, a freshman. “It’s a good thing that we have this access to have people willing to donate and we’re thankful that Coach G was able to have us tag along to help donate, which was the biggest thing.”
Photo credit: www.southernctowls.com
