April 28, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. - The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted a "field day" for local fourth and fifth graders from James Monroe Elementary School Wednesday. The community service event brought nearly 120 students onto campus to learn and participate in various sports that the student-athletes play here at ODU.
The kids from James Monroe Elementary received introductions to a variety of new sports such as field hockey, tennis, golf, lacrosse and sailing, while also learning new technique in sports such as basketball, soccer and football.
"It's a cool event because the kids are really excited to be out here," said SAAC Vice President and senior soccer player Jodi Knorowski. "The teachers were telling us about how much buzz there was in the classroom leading up to today and that makes us feel great. We always enjoy giving back to the community and today was special because we were all able to go around to the other stations and learn all of the other sports with the kids!"
There was 12 stations set-up on the various surfaces. The youth rotated to the different stations every 15 minutes. At each of the stops ODU student-athletes taught the kids the basics of their sports, put them through various drills and talked to them about the game.
At the conclusion of the day, there was an autograph session that allowed the student-athletes to sign the kids SAAC Field Day shirts.
In total, the soccer fields, practice basketball gym and two tennis courts were used for all of the different stations.
"It's a great opportunity for these kids and I'm happy to be a part of it," said Monarch football player Jonathan Plisco. "I grew up in this area and never had a chance to meet all of the ODU athletes, so this is a special day for these kids. I think they're having a blast and so are we.
"The kids seem to really enjoy the soccer penalty kicks and tackling dummy station the best. There's a bright future for ODU with these youngsters!"
-ODU-