Gamecocks Give Back on MLK Day
While many students enjoyed a break from classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, South Carolina student-athletes used the time to give back to the community. More than 120 Gamecocks from nearly every athletics program participated in a community service effort with 200 local youths at the Jerri and Steve Spurrier Indoor Practice Facility on Monday.
“This is our MLK Day of service, also known as Cocky’s All Sports Camp,” said Taylor Fox, a fifth-year senior exercise science major from the women’s soccer team who is the Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and chairs the community service committee. “We invite kids from around the community to participate in every sport that we have. We have nine stations set up, and our student-athletes lead each station so the kids can try and participate in nearly every sport that we have.”
“God has blessed us with a chance to come back and give back to the kids, like somebody did for us when we were kids,” said Buddy Mack, a fifth-year senior on the football team who already has his degree in law, criminal justice and society and is pursuing his master’s degree. “Being a division one athlete, there aren’t a lot of days where we can do this, so any time you have an opportunity like this where you can be around kids and maybe make their day better, you do it.”
“We do this because we want to get out into the community and let the kids know that we appreciate them and all that they and their families do to support us.”
Whether it’s swinging a bat or a golf club, catching a football, dribbling a soccer ball, or serving a volleyball, all of the kids had a chance to learn something about a different sport from the student-athletes. While the youngsters seemed to enjoy themselves, the student-athletes got something out of it as well.
“I just hope all of the student-athletes realize that we can put smiles on kinds faces,” Mack said. “You can do that very easily. You get a lot of enjoyment out of it as well.”
“We do this because we want to get out into the community and let the kids know that we appreciate them and all that they and their families do to support us,” Fox said. “We want to make them happy. It’s fun to have the kids run around with us and experience what we get to experience. I genuinely enjoy seeing the kids smiling while they’re running around. You never know what’s going on with them in their lives, and what they get to do or don’t get a chance to do, so it’s an opportunity to really engage with them and show them what we love and get to love on them a little bit.”
