Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/230649
I BEHIND THE DESK BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Selflessness of student-athletes impressive 've been very pleased with our Badgers Give Back initiative and how we have organized our community service efforts. It's one thing that we try to emphasize with our coaches and student-athletes because our community has been so supportive of us. We are able to do things, grow our program and compete at a high level, because of the unbelievable support we receive, much of it from within Madison and the surrounding areas. It's just the right thing to do, to give back to our community in whatever ways we can. There are a number of different ways that can manifest itself. It can be educational at an elementary school or library. It can be humanitarian, like visiting a hospital to see a youngster that's fighting cancer or organizing a food drive. Or it can simply be interacting with kids at the YMCA or through Big Brothers, Big Sisters, kids that need a little support and guidance. Our student-athletes are really involved in a variety of efforts. When I was the football coach, we started getting involved with the children's hospital on campus. Initially someone asked if I would come over and visit the hospital and talk to some of the kids. I brought some of our players with me and from then on, the players did it on their own every Friday, which is a huge credit to them. It has grown to where I know now, because we have to limit it to eight 14 // VARSITY December 19, 2013 players a week, there is a waiting list to see who gets to go every Friday. It's something our guys really look forward to every week. The biggest thing our Badgers Give Back program has done is make it easier on all sides for us to handle requests. There's a point person to get things done and Kayla Gross has done a tremendous job organizing everything. I was walking into the men's basketball game on Saturday and a person stopped me and told me that some of our student-athletes had spent some time with his WHAT IMPRESSES ME ABOUT OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS TEAMS IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF OUR KIDS GET INVOLVED. IT'S A CONTAGIOUS THING. grandson and he wanted to know if there could be a follow-up. The way we are set up now, I can just give him Kayla's information. She has a record of the original visit and can try to line up something with same team. Also, now there's a clearinghouse on both ends. Our studentathletes know that if they have an event that contacts them or that they want to be a part of, they can take it to Kayla and she can run it through the proper channels to make sure it's something we can get approved and something that is feasible. And from the public's standpoint, there is one person to contact instead of trying to track down individual sports and calling multiple people and maybe getting frustrated when they meet a dead end. What impresses me about our student-athletes throughout the various teams is that the majority of our kids get involved. It's not just Team A or Team B or this one group of players. It's a contagious thing. Now, some kids go above and beyond. Chris Borland is pretty special that way. The fact that Chris is a marquee player and gives more of his time than anyone else speaks volume for the type of kid he is. When I was coaching, Cecil Martin stood out because he was a guy that came from nothing but was always happy, always looking to help someone else and extended himself in any way that he could. But much like our student-athletes now, we had so many players that went out of their way to give back that it's hard to single out guys. The person who approached me last Saturday was not out of the ordinary. There's always somebody contacting me that has had a positive contact with our studentathletes, whether they take the time to email me or it's someone I see out in public. It's something that makes me very proud every time I hear it.