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All too often college athletes are viewed as jocks without a sense of what college is all about. They are just there to play sports and couldn't care less about the greater academic and collegiate experience.
The Dodge City Community College women’s basketball team and head coach Lucas McDonald are looking to combat those negative stereotypes with a healthy dose of generosity.
Recently, McDonald and his staff approached Comanche Intermediate Center with an idea that would allow his coaching staff and the team to get back into the classroom to help younger student with their reading ability.
“We were put in contact with the staff there and we were able to work out a plan to work with one classroom where are girls could work with students one-on-one,” McDonald said.
The Lady Conqs visited the Intermediate Center last week and joined a classroom who was 80 pages into their reading, so the young students filled in the team on what had happened so far in the story and then the team members had their opportunity to read along with each student.
Coach McDonald hopes this kind of community service will help his players appreciate what kind of impact they can have on a stranger’s life.
“So many times people don’t think they can make a difference in someone else’s life and I want them to realize the changes they can make are important to the community, they’re important to a college campus,” McDonald said.
He also wants these volunteer experiences to be a time where a team can create chemistry that can translate to wins on the basketball court.
“The girls had some fun with this,” McDonald said. “They all had their own individual stories from the kids they were working with. There were things that happened going there and coming back that were team-building, but I think it’s great from them to realize there are things that matter outside of basketball, but that we can do those things as a team.”
While many would assume that this type of service would be completed and forgotten about, McDonald has further plans for his squad to further instill the satisfying feeling of helping those who truly need it.
He says that not only will his team participate in the buddy reading program, but they will attempt to put together a pen-pal program with a local school, where his players will write to different students, and will also help a community senior center, assisting with games of bingo, communicating with the elderly and attempting to better their image as a team that truly cares about the community they play for.
Despite how the Lady Conqs fare this season on the basketball court, they’re already champions in the heart of the Dodge community.
All too often college athletes are viewed as jocks without a sense of what college is all about. They are just there to play sports and couldn't care less about the greater academic and collegiate experience.
The Dodge City Community College women’s basketball team and head coach Lucas McDonald are looking to combat those negative stereotypes with a healthy dose of generosity.
Recently, McDonald and his staff approached Comanche Intermediate Center with an idea that would allow his coaching staff and the team to get back into the classroom to help younger student with their reading ability.
“We were put in contact with the staff there and we were able to work out a plan to work with one classroom where are girls could work with students one-on-one,” McDonald said.
The Lady Conqs visited the Intermediate Center last week and joined a classroom who was 80 pages into their reading, so the young students filled in the team on what had happened so far in the story and then the team members had their opportunity to read along with each student.
Coach McDonald hopes this kind of community service will help his players appreciate what kind of impact they can have on a stranger’s life.
“So many times people don’t think they can make a difference in someone else’s life and I want them to realize the changes they can make are important to the community, they’re important to a college campus,” McDonald said.
He also wants these volunteer experiences to be a time where a team can create chemistry that can translate to wins on the basketball court.
“The girls had some fun with this,” McDonald said. “They all had their own individual stories from the kids they were working with. There were things that happened going there and coming back that were team-building, but I think it’s great from them to realize there are things that matter outside of basketball, but that we can do those things as a team.”
While many would assume that this type of service would be completed and forgotten about, McDonald has further plans for his squad to further instill the satisfying feeling of helping those who truly need it.
He says that not only will his team participate in the buddy reading program, but they will attempt to put together a pen-pal program with a local school, where his players will write to different students, and will also help a community senior center, assisting with games of bingo, communicating with the elderly and attempting to better their image as a team that truly cares about the community they play for.
Despite how the Lady Conqs fare this season on the basketball court, they’re already champions in the heart of the Dodge community.
