Partnership With Trinity Continues

About 40 third graders screamed a hero's welcome to members of Street Soccer 945 when they visited Trinity Episcopal School for the first time since returning from South Africa. Street Soccer 945 split up and scrimmaged amongs the kids. The smiles and relaxed expressions on the faces of our players said it all. What was so striking to me was that I hadn't seen that level of relaxation on their faces ever. For the first time I saw our team for the ages they really are. You forget that Craig and C-White are only 19, just like Sycthe and Aubrie. And that Pop, Jay Allen, Cyrus, and Tony are in their early twenties.

It does so much good for our guys to present themselves in front of groups and to be seen for their accomplishments. The other week at Trinity, the players did most of their talking with their feet, but Craig showed them the boomerang the Australian team had given him, and they answered basic questions about their journey.

Teacher of the class, Tachi Delinger, mentioned to me a story she had heard from one of the parents. The saturday after our visit, it began to rain. The student looked preoccupied and the parent asked, what's a matter. The student said, "I am worried about the soccer players, won't they get cold in the rain." Then the child turned optimistic, "Maybe they found somewhere to stay dry." "Yeah, maybe they did," the parent responded. Congrats to Trinity for their service learning commitment and to our guys for being good ambassadors, putting a human face on homelessness. While many have moved off the street and some of them are able to rent a hotel room or stay at the shelter, many still do sleep out or camp out regularly. For many it is a hard thing to really grasp, but certainly this Trinity student empathized.