On January 23, 2025, nine-year-old Dapheria celebrated her Signing Day with the Georgetown women’s soccer team at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Though Team IMPACT Signing Days are always special, Dapheria’s was extra unique in that it marked the first ever Team IMPACT Signing Day to take place at a hospital. It also celebrated the coming together of Team IMPACT and Children’s National in a partnership that will create unique, life-changing experiences for young patients like Dapheria by pairing them with local college sports teams for year-round mentorship and emotional support.
Dapheria joins the Hoyas after a year filled with unexpected medical complications that left her and her family trying to wrap their heads around their new normal. Once her condition stabilized, Dapheria was struggling to piece together exactly what happened to her while questioning why.
In August of 2024, Dapheria was matched with the Georgetown women’s soccer team. Since her first meeting with the team, Dapheria hasn’t been able to stop talking about her new friends and counting down the days until they see each other again. The Hoyas made their new teammate roster-official this week with her Signing Day at Children’s National.
The afternoon kicked off with a hospital-wide game of Bingo, hosted by Dapheria and her Georgetown soccer teammates, and broadcast throughout the hospital by Seacrest Studios. After Bingo, Dapheria and her teammates worked together to hand out Bingo prizes and goodie bags to patients throughout the hospital. Then, it was time to make it official at Dapheria’s Signing Day! After speeches from Josh Walker, Team IMPACT’s Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic; Dr. Nathaniel Beers, MD, MPA, FAAP, Executive Vice President of Community and Population Health at Children’s National; and members of Dapheria’s new team, Dapheria signed on the dotted line, officially committing to the Hoyas. “Thank you to Children’s National for trusting us with patients like Dapheria,” said Josh Walker. “Thank you to Dapheria and her family for letting us all be part of her special Signing Day, and thank you to Georgetown women’s soccer for welcoming her to your team!”
Dapheria was able to share in the magic of the moment, not only with her Georgetown women’s soccer teammates and family but also with all her friends, doctors, and nurses at Children’s National. Seacrest Studios broadcast the event hospital-wide, and Dapheria answered questions from the crowd and posed for photos with her teammates. “This Signing Day means that she is officially part of the team!” said Danielle, Dapheria’s mom. “Dapheria is excited about learning new things like stretching and hanging out with girls on Saturdays after practice.”
Dapheria’s monumental Signing Day marks the first Team IMPACT Signing Day to take place in a hospital, and the first of many friendships forged through the Team IMPACT and Children’s National partnership. Rooted in the shared mission of promoting the health and well-being of children, this partnership will leverage both organizations’ core values: providing inclusive healthcare, fostering community connections, and developing the next generation of leaders. Through this alliance, Children’s National will act as a model for other pediatric healthcare facilities nationwide, while Team IMPACT will benefit from Children’s National’s leadership in pediatric care and its strong ties to the local community.
“Children’s National is one of the nation’s preeminent children’s hospitals, and their enthusiasm to recognize Team IMPACT as a trusted extension of psycho-social care for their patients is an important milestone for Team IMPACT. It is a validation of the program we have built and a declaration to children’s hospitals across the country,” Walker said. “At Team IMPACT, our case managers are master’s level social workers and certified child life specialists, and we are ready and waiting to find the perfect college teams to support children across the country.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Team IMPACT to give our patients an opportunity to connect with college athletic teams for a truly unique experience,” said Dr. Beers, MD, MPA, FAAP. “Providing strong social-emotional support is essential to fostering their overall health and well-being.”
As Dapheria and her Hoyas continue to connect and grow their friendship both on and off the field, we hope their relationship stands as a testament to power of team and the community that grows from partnerships like this.
