Student athletes put many hours into practices to become the best team possible. However, at South, athletes are also found putting time into aiding the community through charity events and fundraising. A few of these teams include the men’s soccer team partnering with the Cystic Fibrosis Institute, cheerleaders for leukemia and lymphoma and the baseball team benefitting the Northfield Township Food Pantry.

Soccer Team (Cystic Fibrosis)

The men’s soccer team has not only worked hard during practices and pushed  themselves to do better every game, but has also stepped up in order to make a difference in the community. They have partnered up with the Cystic Fibrosis Institute to raise money and help kids who have the disease.

Founder Dr. Steven Boas explained that cystic fibrosis is an inherited, life threatening disease in which mucus builds up in the lungs. Boas explained that last year, head coach Paul Agombar approached the Institute when selecting a local charity with which the team could partner through a personal connection.

“I think it’s great that the team is going to be able to get involved with getting behind a cause, and I think to me, that is as important is anything else,” Boas said. “That these soccer players feel that there is some sort of a community connection with what they do.”

Mark Ishkhan, varsity soccer captain,  explained that the team will look for stores to sponsor the team and parents will raise money for the cause. Though the team started this charity program last year, this season, they had the opportunity to go to a picnic at which they met kids who have the disease.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Ishkhan said. “I’ve never really met someone who has cystic fibrosis, and for the varsity team to go play with them, that’ll probably make them happy.”

Ishkhan finds merit through the event because he was able to step up not only as an athlete, but as a member of the community as well.

“It makes you feel good about yourself,” he said. “At least for me, I’m usually just playing sports or something and haven’t really done a lot of other activities for charity stuff, so it makes you feel good when you know that kids who want to play who are prevented because of their disease and you just help them out, so it’s a good thing to do.”

After taking part in the event, Ishkhan took a lesson to heart.

“If you’re ever struggling to do something, I can just look back on this and say anything could happen if you get help,” Ishkhan explained.

Boas believed that the soccer team’s initiative through the charity event and partnership can show other teams how they can step up as well.

“I think this is a great example of what a sports team can do and that they can get behind a cause, and that they can really make a difference,” he said. “It doesn’t have to take a lot of energy or effort. But I think the responsibility towards the community, that they’re willing to do this is fantastic and says a lot about the character of all the players on the soccer team.”

The charity game will take place Oct. 1 against Lake Forest.

Cheerleading (Leukemia and Lymphoma)

Students packed the stands of the football game Sept. 16 wearing neon shirts to support the cheerleading team’s “Light up the Stands” event.

Junior captain Kaylee Sherman explained that Light up the Stands is an event for the school to get involved and raise money towards life-saving research for leukemia and lymphoma. The participation led up to the “Light up the Night” walk Sept. 25 in Gallery Park.

“I think it’s a really great cause,” Sherman said. “We met a little girl, her name is Piper, and it was really nice to have a personal connection to someone who does have leukemia and so I’m really excited to just support her and many other people.”

In previous years, the cheerleaders have hosted charity events supporting breast cancer. However, the walk conflicted with Homecoming, and so they chose to support leukemia and lymphoma instead.

“We decided to do leukemia and lymphoma because it’s a cancer than many people know about and it affects lots of families,” Sherman noted.

According to Sherman, each individual wants to raise $100, and the JV and varsity goal is $3,000 in total. In order to raise this amount, the team sold t-shirts and bracelets, raising money and awareness. Sherman hopes to continue charity through cheerleading in the future in order to help people become more aware of these situations.

“You become more involved with the community and have a connection to many people,” she said.

Baseball (Northfield Food Pantry)

Last year, the men’s baseball team led the Burger Battle at Meatheads to raise money for the Northfield Township Food Pantry. Seniors Zach Jones and Matt Pelos explained that captains from both GBS and GBN customized a burger creation, South’s being the Titan Thunder.

“I know that you could vote online,” Jones explained. “Also, every time somebody bought it, it would be a contribution to [the Northfield Township Food Pantry].”

The event was promoted at the Spring Sports Assembly by last year’s captains, where they explained the battle, hoping the rivalry would lead to more burgers bought for South.

“It’s fun, people will actually get involved in this,” Pelos explained. “It was a good burger. Just the competition thing with North also gets people to get involved in stuff like this because North is our rival, so any way we can make it against North would get people to get on our side.”

In addition, Pelos recalled the team heading to Meatheads after a game.

“After a game, we did go to Meatheads once to buy the burger, and it was a good time to chill out and talk about baseball,” he explained.

Jones added that the event put things into perspective, that the team can help others and become closer together by being aware of what goes on in the community. In the end, South won the battle, but Jones noted that the charity behind the event had the biggest impact on him.

“It’s always good to do it for a good cause,” he said. “It’s fun to beat North but also it’s always good to help out the community, the more important part.”

This year, Pelos hopes to become a bigger part in the event with more input and leadership as a senior, while keeping the charity connection fun.

“Charity can be fun; it doesn’t have to be when you push yourself to do something you don’t want to do,” Pelos said. “It can be like a Burger Battle, for instance. It’s a fun way to raise money.”