November 6, 2008 -- ATHLETES UNITED
by Jeff Friedman, Jaeger Civic Intern
In its second season, Athletes United has proven to be a huge success among Dartmouth student-athletes and young kids in the Upper Valley community. The organization's founders, Myra Sack ?10 and Becky Poskin ?09, are very happy with the progress that Athletes United has made and feel that it will continue to grow in the future. According to the Athlete's United mission statement, the organization's “aim is to unite children of the Upper Valley with Dartmouth student-athletes through a free, organized and fun sports league. Through sport, Athletes United will provide the children with a positive extracurricular activity that builds confidence, friendships and mentor relationships, while developing their athletic skill.”
Fall 2008 has marked the second season of Athletes United. The first season, summer 2008, kicked off the league with three towns participating. Co-founder Sack said, “Now, we have 5 towns and had around 60 kids on the first day of fall term.” These towns include Cornish, Norwich, Lebanon, Thetford, and Sharon. In addition to practicing and competing regularly, each week the young athletes are assigned a goal, such as “teamwork,” which they must display in some aspect of their lives. Sack and Poskin want to emphasize leadership, responsibility, and good moral values in addition to a fun and competitive athletic environment. Sack said that there will be no league this winter because of difficulties getting facilities, but they will have a few clinics to keep kids interested and involved. Sack said that Athletes United has been such a major part of her Dartmouth experience, “I just want these kids to have the same positive experience that I've had with sports and competition.” In addition to trying to increase the involvement of young kids signing up to be a part of Athletes United, Poskin hopes that, “More Dartmouth students will get involved and bring their own passions and influences to the program.”
Athletes United has continued to gather support on campus and in the upper valley community since it began six months ago. It is growing at a fast rate and is a unique organization because as Poskin notes, “it can be adapted and added to by many students now and in the near future.” Myra and Becky are always looking for new ideas to expand the program. They want to expand Athletes United to involve as many Dartmouth students and local kids as possible so it can have an impact on everyone it reaches. It will be very exciting to watch Athletes United grow going forward. With the continued dedication of Sack and Poskin, the potential of Athlete's United is unpredictable. We encourage all student-athletes to try and get involved in Athlete's United!
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