Erica Goodman participating in an intersquad scrimmage in fall 2020.

 

How are student-athletes making a difference in the community whether it's on the field, or behind closed doors? I myself being a student-athlete understand how important it is to give back to the community. Which is why I have reached out to one of my fellow teammates, Erica Goodman to fully understand how student-athletes really, truly are making a difference in the community. 

 

You will often hear that Canada is one huge hockey family, as hockey binds the community together. Any sport has the power, and capabilities to bind a community together. Doesn’t matter how young, or old you are, at the end of the day what sport you play is one big community from association to association. Within that community there are always opportunities to give back to your greater community. 

 

I sat down with Erica, who is on the Kitchener U19 ringette team. I know she's had a lot of experience within the ringette community, and as well in terms of being able to give back. For example:her team took  part in Breast Cancer Awareness month during October by putting pink tape on their sticks, and pink jerseys.

 

 There are also opportunities benefitting the environment:last year, the Dorchester U16A team went out and planted trees. Environmental activism generates action.There are many different opportunities out there. I asked Erica :”What the variety of ways your team, or association has been able to give back to the community?” 

 

“A couple of years ago my team did a volunteer event with the Girl Guides. We teach them about ringette, what ringette is, and how to play it. It seemed like they really enjoyed learning. In 2019, my team donated toys for the Canadian Tire Toy Drive.” 

 

There are always going to be opportunities to teach others the sport that you play, or to give those that might not be able to afford it a chance to try something new. The next question I asked Erica was; “How do sports bind a community together?” 

 

Erica responded:, “It introduces you to people you might not know because they don’t go to your school, or they don’t live near you. I’ve made a lot of friends through ringette with people who I normally wouldn’t be friends with.”

 

It does not matter the sport, hockey, lacrosse, baseball, etc. Sport allows you to make new friends that may not go to the same school as you, or who may live 20-30 minutes away--the community grows. Camps and training events that associations, and some sports have implemented foster friendships. Sports create a community network and further expand the family to bind a community together. 

 

Sport is especially important at this time because giving back to the community makes you feel good about yourself, and see the positive difference in the result.  When I asked Erica: “. How does giving back to the community make you feel?”, she responded: “It definitely makes me feel really good because I don’t get too many opportunities to."

 

By giving back you can learn a lot of valuable lessons you will be able to use for the rest of your life. It is similar to the training cycle--practice and you improve; give back, and you can learn lessons that are valuable not only because you helped someone else, but also because you can now use what you learned in your everyday life to give back outside of sport as well.

 

This answer led to my final question:; “What is a lesson you have learned from being able to make a difference in the community?” 

 

Erica: “Mostly, just that it doesn’t take as much as you would expect to give back. It only takes a little bit.” 

 

It doesn’t matter what sport you play there will always be an opportunity, or several opportunities to give back. There are events such as come try, tree planting, food drives, and there are at least a dozen more. Giving back doesn’t have to be a big thing, it can be a little thing like holding up the door. One of the biggest things you can learn like what Erica said, is it doesn’t take much to give back. It doesn’t take much to put a smile on someone else’s face, or to make their day.

 

There are so many different opportunities out there. The one thing about sports is it is a community in itself, but there is a whole way to connect to the outside community, and bound both of them together. There are tons of ways you can give back to your community both on and off the field, court, or ice.