On Saturday, Dec. 6, the John Brown University Department of Athletics led 50 Girl Scouts in the "Happy Health Holiday" event in which JBU student-athletes modeled to Girl Scouts essential skills of various sports. This event was a part of the Golden Eagles' effort to teach the NAIA's Champions of Character initiative, which involves five core values that all Golden Eagle student-athletes are expected to embody.
"'Happy Healthy Holiday' was a great event to be involved in," said Director of Athletics Robyn Daugherty. "I see these student-athletes mainly during competition, so it was really awesome for me to be able to see them in a different setting - giving back to girls in the area."
One of the many sports that the girls learned how to play was soccer. The women's soccer team taught the skill of how to dribble a soccer ball and then played small-sided games. The girls also learned how to pass and even put their skills to the test with a short scrimmage.
"Their favorite part was scrimmaging and they seemed to enjoy the rest of our soccer drills we had planned for them," said sophomore forward Hannah Poor. "I think it went well and I would love to host the event again."
More than 60 JBU student-athletes participated in the event that not only taught the skills of soccer but also volleyball, basketball and cross country.
"The event was great because it allowed the girls an opportunity to engage in sports from college athletes that understand the dynamics of the sports mentally and physically," said JBU's Champions of Character golf representative Tommy Wright. "This is an opportunity most girls won't have, so it was good for them to be able to experience a fun, engaging day."
Apart from the soccer team, the volleyball team taught the girls the dynamics of spiking, setting, serving and hitting while the basketball teams taught passing and dribbling in addition to shooting techniques. The cross country teams had the girls learn thorough, proper stretching and ran running drills.
"I think the girls learned some valuable information on how to play these sports with the right attitude and respect," admitted freshman volleyball player Bailei Brown.
After the sports session, a few of the female athletes spent time with a handful of older Girl Scouts in the afternoon for a break-out session to teach the girls about the NAIA's Champions of Character five core values and how respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship intersected with the Girl Scout mission which vows to "build girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place."
"The Girl Scout leaders could not stop talking about what great students JBU has and how fun it was to watch them interact with the girls," Daugherty added. "It was a great day and our hope is that this partnership grows and becomes an annual event."
John Brown University was recently named a recipient of the 2013-14 NAIA's Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Award. Earning a "silver" accolade, JBU has won the award for 13 consecutive years, each time the honor has been awarded, and is currently one of just 22 institutions in the NAIA to achieve this feat.
Sports on 12/14/2014