When Myra Sack was a child attending soccer clinics in her native Philadelphia, she remembers being awestruck by the student-athletes who taught her the basics of the game and how to build a team. Ten years later, she is working to recreate that experience for elementary-age students in the Dartmouth area.

Sack and fellow Big Green soccer student-athlete Becky Poskin spent time over Thanksgiving in 2007 developing a community-service venture that could be more ongoing than the one-term projects they had worked on in the past. The result was “Athletes United,” a year-long, fluid service project that provides a free sports league to youth in the Dartmouth community.

The kids practice at community centers during the week and compete on the weekend, with transportation to games provided.

Because student-athletes often have heavier time commitments in season, the off-season student-athletes run the clinics. For example, Sack and Poskin plan to have lacrosse student-athletes manage the project this fall during soccer season, then in the spring, they and other fall-sport student-athletes will take over the clinics.

Athletes United kicked off this month with a basketball clinic that runs through August 16 for about 30 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from three communities in the Dartmouth area. The kids practice throughout the week and then have games on Saturdays. On July 19, the participants had the chance to play at Leede Arena on Dartmouth’s campus.

“The kids are really happy about it. The more hands-on the college athletes are with them, the happier they are,” Sack said. “I’m hoping that the kids have the same reaction to some of the student-athletes that are working with them as I did (when I was a child).”

Right now, the communities of Thetford, Norwich and Sharon are involved with the project, and Sack said she hopes to expand Athletes United to include eight or 10 towns in the Upper Valley area.

“We really want these kids to get to know Dartmouth student-athletes and have a mentor-role model experience,” she said. “We are all so passionate about sports, and we just want to share that.”

Both Poskin and Sack are contributors on the field, too. Poskin will be a team captain this year and Sack, an incoming junior, has started since her freshman year. They recruited teammates and other student-athletes to participate in the project. So far this summer, 12 Big Green student-athletes have helped with the clinics, including basketball, lacrosse and squash players. 

For more information about the program, contact AthletesUnited@Dartmouth.edu.