Soccer teams assist MRA in carpool line

The Holmes Community College soccer players recently gave back to their community by assisting the carpool line at Madison-Ridgeland Academy.

Head Coach Matt Convertino's daughter, Reyleigh, attends MRA, he and the team thought it would be a good idea to assist the teachers and parents in unloading children and making sure they get into the building safely.

"They are so busy and give so much of themselves to the children during the school day I thought it would be great for our soccer players to give them a hand," Convertino said of the MRA teachers and staff. "The parents are also appreciative because assistance by the teachers during carpool stops at 7:50 a.m. sharp. Any parents who have not made it through the carpool line by 7:50 a.m. has to pull up and walk their child into school by themselves which can be problematic and make parents late for work. So by having our soccer players out there we were able to get all the parents through the carpool line each day and get moms and dads to work on time."

Community service projects have always been high priority for the soccer teams. This is just one of many done throughout the year.

"We tell every player at the beginning of the school year that playing soccer here at Holmes is about more than just wins and losses," Convertino said. "It is about growing as people and for us as coaches is about developing tomorrow's future leaders.

"On the surface their tasks were to help the children out of the car and to the side walk," he said. "Beneath the surface is a lot more because they have to look out for the safety of three, four and five year olds which if left unattended can accidentally walk back into traffic and the consequences can be catastrophic. As a coach, it was great to see our 18-20 year old soccer players take the attention off themselves for a little while and turn 100 percent of their focus onto the safety of the children."

For photos from the event, go to MRA Carpool photos.