Ethan Sommers is a senior at Edgemont High School. He’s been volunteering at Purchase College on Sunday mornings working with our special needs athletes since he was in 7th grade. We recently got a chance to sit down with him to ask about his experience working with BYSC.
How did you get started with Backyard Sports Cares?
I’ve been with the program for a long time. I started in the regular sports program when I was a little kid as an athlete. Then for my Mitzvah project, I heard about Backyard Sports Cares from a friend so I got in contact with Danny and started working with BYSC and coming every Sunday and helping out. What is it about working with BYSC that you find meaningful?
When I first started, I remember that first week feeling a little nervous and not knowing what was going to happen and who I was going to meet. But for me, it went surprisingly well. I had a lot of fun and at the end of it you feel like you did something really good not just for yourself, but more importantly for that child you are working with and for their parents too. It’s just a really good feeling every single Sunday and a great way to get the next week started doing something I love doing.
Is there a particularly memorable part of your volunteer experience that you would like to share?
During Covid, we were working with our athletes on Sunday mornings for an hour using facetime. It was obviously a rough time for everyone, but especially for kids with special needs who don’t get that much social time normally. So to be with the athlete, working hard and having fun and also letting the parent do something fun for a little while, you could definitely see the appreciation. Especially during a hard time when people were coming together and helping each other out, it just felt really special.
