Student athletes from Nebraska Wesleyan University are teaching lessons of the game to the next generation.
Through a partnership with The Malone Center, a nonprofit that provides programs for underserved youth in the Lincoln community, members of NWU’s baseball and softball teams put on four clinics this winter. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade were taught to hit, pitch, and field ground balls and pop flies.
“When I interacted with them, I saw the light in their eyes,” says Addi Duranski (’25), a left fielder on the softball team. “It seemed like it meant the world.”
“As college students, we may not realize the impression we leave on some of these kids,” says the biology major and psychology and chemistry double minor from Columbus, Neb. “Being a role model and having connections with them hopefully inspires them to take up college athletics one day.”
Jason English (’24), a first baseman from Phoenix, Ariz., says similar programs helped inspire him to become a baseball player. “I learned a love for the sport. Programs like this help introduce kids to something they may never have had the chance to experience.”
His passion for working with kids is why he’s studying to be a teacher and coach. “I'm a mixed American. Hopefully it shows them you can be a minority and progress through high school, into college and through life. I think that's done a lot for them.”
English says the biggest lesson might not even be about baseball. “It’s about impacting others. It's something I want to do for the rest of my life. Recognizing that everybody starts somewhere and knowing that it's okay to grow at your own pace. I love seeing this. It just fulfills me.”