Being a full-time student is no easy task. Earning a degree while competing in a top DII sport also not easy. Yet somewhere between studying, attending class, going to practice and winning the RMAC championship, the CMU Men’s Soccer Team found time to score more than just goals and good grades. They also scored points with the community by lending a helping hand.
Canyon View park is a 110-acre recreation space northwest of campus that offers a variety of activities from baseball to tennis. The fields at the park are just as busy hosting soccer, lacrosse and football games for kids of all ages. For some time, the city needed help cleaning up around 40 soccer and lacrosse goals but were in need of more time and manpower to make it happen. Luckily, the CMU Men's Soccer Team reached out to the City of Grand Junction Parks & Recreation department to see if they could use some volunteers. The answer was a quick yes.
“The entire soccer team along with coaches, a total of 40+ guys, showed up to help us out. They cleared the area, laid porta floor and then organized the goals in a clean neat line. It is amazing how much a team of 45 can accomplish,” said Canyon View Sports Complex Crew Leader Linda Friesen. “I am so impressed by this team! They are a class act on and off the field.”
“The city of Grand Junction and the surrounding community have given so much to us. It is truly a humbling and fulfilling experience to be able to give back where we can,” said CMU Head Men’s Soccer Coach Jon Fridal.
Players and coaches worked together not only to help organize the community park, they also helped the city’s horticulture crew downtown and picked up trash at Lincoln Park.
“The sense of community is one of the main reasons I came to Grand Junction and CMU. It is always a pleasure to give back to the community for all the support that they have given us,” said student-athlete Ethan Anderson.
CMU athletics has a long history of volunteerism that spans across all of their teams. Every semester teams get out into the community help. And it’s not only athletics, but all sorts of clubs and organizations that continue to lend a hand year after year to support the community that supports them.