Men’s Soccer Makes Donation to the African Diaspora Mental Health Association
Springfield, MA – The core values at Elms College are Faith, Community, Justice, and Excellence. The men's soccer team knows this well and made a big impact in the community with a donation to the African Diaspora Mental Health Association (ADMHA).
"We wanted to be a symbol of change. Maybe a small symbol, in the grand scheme of what's going on in this country, but we felt compelled to take action." Even though a global pandemic kept the Elms College Men's Soccer team away from competitive action this fall, senior captain, Tyler Hesselton, didn't lose focus of his responsibility to the Elms College mission of Faith, Community, Justice, and Excellence.
Over this past fall semester, the men's soccer team ran a fundraising program to raise awareness and money for the social justice issues that plague our country. "Over the summer, the boys and I had been talking about what our team could do to help out and promote change," said Hesselton. "Obviously, the events that occurred this past year were terrible, disheartening, and really made everyone sick. There came a point when it sort of 'clicked', and we all realized that this could happen to a teammate, a loved one, or even yourself personally. We came up with this idea after training one day. We decided we would put "Black Lives Matter" on our pregame warm-up shirts for this season, to bring awareness and to have solidarity with one another. The team loved the idea and agreed to it immediately. Then we figured the other athletes and students on campus would want to get involved, too, so we got the idea for a fundraiser. We got black shirts with our EC logo on the front and "Black Lives Matter" on the back, and sold hundreds of shirts across campus. They almost sold out immediately. It was great to see our small community come together for such a powerful cause."
In addition to spreading awareness and uniting the community, the focus of the fundraiser was to raise money for a local organization that worked to further the BLM movement in the Western Mass area. The men's soccer team found the African Diaspora Mental Health Association (ADMHA). The ADMHA is an outpatient mental health clinic, registered and licensed in the state of Massachusetts. It was founded in September of 2012 to provide mental health and healthcare services to all people in the Greater Springfield and surrounding areas. Their goal is to promote social, emotional, economic, and behavioral health and to establish long-standing resources for children, adults, and families of all people, with a special emphasis on the African Diaspora.
On Monday, a few representatives of the team met with the Clinical Director of ADMHA, David Lewis Sr., to discuss the issues in our world today, and to get a better idea of the work ADMHA does in the community. In total, the men's soccer team donated a check for $1,000 to ADMHA. Director Lewis and the rest of the office were abundantly grateful for the donation, but more so for the work the team did to strengthen the messages of social justice in the area.
"It means a lot to me, a student-athlete of color, that this cause means so much to my team," junior defender Lancedale Peterkin said. "Sometimes it's the kind of thing that you might say, 'It's not happening here,' or, 'That kind of thing doesn't happen here,' but it definitely does. For the guys to make a cause that's so close to my heart, close to their heart, it makes me feel supported and strengthened. I love being a part of this team."
"Soccer, above all else, is a game that unites," head coach Mike Wysocki said. "It brings people together, from all over the world. All different races, origins, backgrounds, everything. And our team is no different. We literally come from all over the globe. So when some of our brothers are hurting, we don't sit idly by. It doesn't surprise me one bit that our team wanted to take action. That's the kind of character of the guys in the group. I'm so proud of this team."
But the work does not end here for the men's soccer team. They have partnered up with Director Lewis and ADMHA to bring more awareness to the social justice landscape, starting with the Elms College community. It's a partnership that will bring workshops, trainings and community discussions to the campus and beyond. The work has just begun.
