UHSP men's soccer spends weekend with New Dimensions youth

One of the core beliefs of the NAIA and the American Midwest Conference is being a Champion of Character. One of the pillars of that effort is servant leadership and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy's men's soccer team on Saturday spent some time towards that effort volunteering with the youth at New Dimensions Soccer in St. Louis. New Dimensions is an outreach program whose mission is to be the premier provider in delivering high quality extra-curricular opportunities for children living in under-resourced areas of St. Louis by creating a network of partnerships with like-minded organizations.

Saturday, the Eutectics were on hand with a number of the young boys and girls to run them through some drills, challenge them, lend some expertise on the game of soccer and spend some time with the children. It was a day for UHSP Head Coach Dan Hogan and his players to give back to their community. "Personally it meant a lot to me because I volunteered with that organization for a number of years to the point where I was the Friday grass cutting guy down there. That really means a lot me, that field, that area, my Mom went to school at McKinley High School and just to see that neighborhood have the opportunity to have kids in their neighborhood every Saturday morning, it meant a lot to me."

Tim Tettambel is the co-founder of New Dimensions. He said that his group works by the motto, "If they can see it, they can be it". He discussed the purpose of his program, "We're coming up on 20-years being in business. We started because we recognized that kids from under-resourced areas didn't have the opportunity to play soccer. We realized two barriers when it came to youth soccer in those under areas: transportation and cost. Pre-Covid we had like six or seven after-school programs. We would go in and teach soccer to kids. Individual skills and games and at the same time we would do character development. Essentially just how to be a good citizen. From those programs and interviews that were developed by Washington University students we found that their grades, behavior and overall demeanor improved as a result of participating in our programs. Currently we are in three of the city's Recreation Centers: Wohl on North Kingshighway, on Gamble by Martin Luther King Ave. and Tandy which is adjacent to Sumner High School. In addition we have a summer program at the Wesley House which is just south of I-70 on Shreve Ave. We're involved in really under-resourced areas, high crime rate areas, etc. So it's not just about playing soccer, we are trying to create good citizens."

Tettambel went on to describe the day with the UHSP men's soccer team on the field with his youth players last Saturday, "The team coming in was absolutely fantastic! They showed up with enthusiasm. The kids were kind of skeptical when they looked and they see a team of college kids and they were like 'oh boy, what's this?'. But the engagement between the two quickly solidified and I think there were some real friendships made between the young kids and the older college players." Coach Hogan said the day went exactly as he had hoped, "My guys, they didn't surprise me but they were all on time, they were all 100% engaged, they were having a good time and the kids sensed that. At the end of it, we would still be there if I didn't say 'we gotta go' because everybody had a good time. It was just an awesome all around day."