UC Merced Connect: Men’s and women’s soccer teams work to inspire around community

There’s no offseason for giving back, and that’s exactly how members of the UC Merced men’s and women’s soccer teams felt as they reached out this semester to help the local community.

The men’s team headed to the Boys & Girls Club of Merced in February, its members teaching the children soccer skills before an intense match with the youngsters. The student athletes stressed the importance of academics, especially gaining a college education.

UC Merced Athletics has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club to help promote qualities such as integrity, sportsmanship and responsibility through playing sports.

“It was great getting involved here, especially in my hometown,” forward Cody Golbad said. “I’m looking forward to coming back and hopefully having a positive influence on these kids. I want them to know what they are capable of – not just in sports, but also academically – if they put in the right effort.”

Keeping up with the theme of balancing academics with physical activity, the men’s soccer team also visited Franklin Elementary School in Merced earlier this month to participate in a Read Across America event on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Members of the team read classic Dr. Seuss books to the children while stressing the importance of being a responsible student. Then the UC athletes spent time playing soccer with children from each grade level.

The women’s soccer team headed to the local Salvation Army last week to serve breakfast at 6:45 a.m. The athletes helped clean tables and wash dishes, and then spent time talking with some of Merced’s less fortunate citizens.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” goalkeeper Gabby Vinco said. “We’re so privileged to be attending UC Merced and playing a game we love. Sometimes it’s easy to forget there are people who struggle to put food on the table, so it was really nice to get out here and give some of our time to make their lives a little bit easier.”

Community garden gets facelift

Warmer weather gave students the opportunity to spring into action to replant the community garden located next to Little Lake.

The “Plant-A-Day” event, held March 18, was a collaboration between Engineers for a Sustainable World and the Yosemite Leadership Program. Members of both organizations are hoping to engage the campus community, especially on-campus residents, in planting and maintaining the campus’ community garden.

The community garden is in line with the University of California’s Global Food Initiative. Introduced in 2014, the initiative harnesses systemwide resources to address issues of food security, health and sustainability.

Merritt Writing Program lecturer De Ette Silbaugh, who serves as adviser for ESW and the community garden, said the idea came about six years ago when several students in her professional writing class wrote a proposal to build a community garden. In 2013, ESW students and other volunteers cleared the land. Last year, the engineering students built and installed 16 planting beds with a solar watering system, but the garden sat dormant.

Silbaugh, a master gardener in Merced County, said the two organizations have gained support from the campus and she is glad to see the garden taking root. Isabella Beltran, an environmental engineering major from Riverside, spent most of the planting event tinkering with the solar-powered watering system.

Several YLP students became interested in the garden for their Social Change Practicum capstone project, which will address food security among students and throughout the Merced community. Bezait Ali, an environmental engineering major from San Jose, sees this as an opportunity to encourage students to find additional options for eating healthy.

“I think it connects students to the food they eat, to nature and to the process of how things grow,”Ali said. “It makes it more personal than just grabbing your food from the dining center.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "UC Merced Connect: Men’s and women’s soccer teams work to inspire around community."