KSC Memories We Are Thankful For
Our incredible staff are the best sources of knowledge about our impact in the community. Regardless of where they come from, there is one thing they all share: working with the community through KSC has allowed them to be touched in so many important ways by the people and stories they encounter.
In honor of the Thanksgiving Holiday, our staff shared a few of the memories that they treasured during their time at KSC.
Image Captured by KSC Parent: Jamie Giambrone (IG: @jamiegiambronephotography)
With the Fall Recreation season recently wrapping up, Technical Director Tim Summiel has some opportunity to reflect on the children who participated in the KSC Juniors program. Our KSC Juniors program is a great way for students from OST schools, or just youth in the community to learn skills in a safe and supportive environment. There is always a healthy blend of youth with different levels of experience playing soccer - some children played soccer for the first time in a KSC program. One girl picked up the soccer skills quickly, and Coach Tim noticed that she she surpassed some of the other youth in her age group. Despite her obvious aptitude for soccer, the kids in the juniors program - especially in her little group - were excited to see each other do well, and they exuberantly cheered each other on in their tournaments with SafeHub and Feliz Philadelphia. Ultimately by the end of the season, they were not only teammates but they were friends. Tim shared that on the last day of KSC Juniors, as they gathered in a large group for the last time, the girl mentioned that she was moving to a different city. Without prompting, her new friends proceeded to hug her and bid her farewell. Her peers did not know she had a difficult time, but Tim knew that her time in KSC Juniors was something she looked forward to throughout the week, and the sessions allowed her a talent to pour into.
Tim, like several others on staff have worked for KSC for a little over a year, but his perspective of impact was no different than Dan Hardy who has helped develop KSC from the beginning. A former reporter, and current volunteer, Dan has attended a vast range of programs and events on behalf of or hosted by KSC. He has seen a lot of the growth of the organization, and fostered important relationships in the community, but his memory centered around the youth. More specifically, he said he attends events and, “I look around to see that some of the same people we served from their earlier years, are still involved and active in our organization.” It amazed him as a clear testament of the family we have cultivated by providing safe, affordable means for all to enjoy the sport of soccer in our community.
Overall, despite whether we have been with the organization for a couple of months, or a little over a decade the impact is reciprocal. As much as we provide mental health and anti-violence centered soccer and enrichment program to our youth and adults, our community provides us rich memories that bring profound and immeasruable meaning to our work lives.
We invite you to share your own memories and photos with KSC. In honor of Giving Tuesday, we would like to start by giving thanks to the wonderful people who make this work possible.
Continue to support our work by donating to Kensington Soccer Club. In addition to financial donations, we invite you to offer your time as a volunteer in one of our new Volunteer Working groups. Email our Volunteer Coordinator Leslie Quan for more information: volunteer@kensingtonsoccer.org !