The future Dryden High School soccer stars took the field Saturday morning, many for the first time, during the opening day of the Dryden Recreation Department’s Sertoma Soccer program.
The current Dryden High School soccer stars were also there, showcasing how a pipeline and program comes to be with the experienced passing the torch to the inexperienced, no matter how young.
It also showcases what we should all be aspiring to be as we grow older and set roots in a community, whether they be temporary or permanent. I was there at 8 a.m. on a Saturday not to work and therefore get paid but to volunteer my time
(Though when the opportunity arises, take it. See pg. 9 for a photo gallery from the youngest of the squadron learning the beautiful game.)
Granted, all I did was hang out a little and fill a small void by assisting with registrations, questions and whatever else popped up during an always chaotic morning. The high schoolers are the ones in this case who were the real volunteers and “life winners.” The varsity programs have done this for years upon years, and it’s almost entirely student led. Boys varsity coach Laszlo Engel and girls varsity coach Nichole Keator were there Saturday morning, but it was more in an overview role. It was their student-athletes who ran clinics, working one-on-one with children ranging in age from 4 to 12 on such aspects as dribbling, touching, and planting and following.
Some of the players on the girls varsity team also serve as coaches for teams, something they’ve continued for a few years.
In this specific instance, the lessons instilled upon them every Saturday morning – they’ll continue as referees for games and coaches – go farther in life than a soccer career ever could. Many of these students will go on to be parents, whether it be in five years or 15. Many will go on to coach soccer at some level, from youth (like this league) to varsity or even college.
Selfishly, it’s a good learning experience for life.
Unselfishly, it’s how our communities should run. And we need to put a sharper focus on that. The Finger Lakes Community Newspapers – the parent that covers the Dryden Courier as well as the Groton Independent, Lansing Ledger, Newfield News, Spencer Random Harvest, Candor Chronicle, Trumansburg Free Press, Ovid Gazette and Interlaken Review – is objective with its push for volunteerism when we publish short briefs about not-for-profits asking for help or fundraisers looking for money.
I can be subjective and say Dryden could use even more of it.
That’s not to say Drydenites don’t have a lot of volunteers doing great things. It’s easy to recall at the moment that it was volunteer hands that built the nice, new colorful playground at Montgomery Park. And that work continues still. But as time progresses, it becomes easy to forget these little things as first-hand experience and stories become lost to lore.
There’s so much that was started by volunteers. As we all re-learned last autumn, the Dryden Recreation Department was started by volunteers. Now it’s too big and complicated, in many people’s opinion, to be run via free help.
It could still use it, though. Just like the school could, the sports boosters could, the drama club boosters could, the café could, the various committees that plan our events could. Yes, our tax dollars are what pay for these people’s salaries to do this work (at least in some cases). But in many instances, it’s just too much work for the amount of people hired for it. Think of your own job: with downsizing and such, have more responsibilities been dropped on you?
The little things we all collectively do to contribute means there’s more we can all enjoy. Maybe you’re one of those people who wake up, go to work, come home and spend night after night with your social media accounts and streaming services.
So be it.
But lest not forget, every time you drive out onto that road you’re using a town entity. You’re participating in a community. You could be doing at least a little something to make it nicer, to save tax dollars, to make society better.
The list of those who volunteer is of course lengthy. I personally know at least a handful who have continued in school volunteer work long after their children have graduated or who volunteer in multiple areas of town, draining their free time even though they enjoy the work.
Not to be that person who says it, but … these volunteers we know and love are getting older. That’s why last month a small group of 20-something professionals convened at the Dryden Hotel for a meeting of “K2,” an initiative set out by the Kiwanis Club of Dryden to get younger volunteers involved. The group is part professional networking and part volunteer work with a possible focus of getting in the schools and forming an annual project to fill a need.
We always talk about volunteering as something that high schoolers need to do to get into a good college, get a good education, get a good job and therefore live a solid life. We go on to volunteer in college to a degree and then it gets lost in starting a profession, finding a soul mate and starting a family.
Consider donating at least a few hours of your time even once a month to something you’re passionate about and a group that could use the help. Committees are always looking for new people and new ideas, such as the Dryden Lake Festival committee. If you’re into event planning, it’s perfect. Enjoy sports? Help out with the sports boosters or Dryden Rec. More of a drama fiend? There’s a group for that.
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