Although the school year is winding down and sports are beginning to wrap up, one team is showing how, even during the off-season, work is never done. For Villanova football, this does not only mean work in the weight room and practices, but also work in the community.
On Saturday, April 20, Villanova signed a new member onto its squad, Wesley Jones from Team IMPACT. A national nonprofit organization that aims at pairing kids with serious illnesses and disabilities with collegiate teams, Team IMPACT’s mission is for the kids and players to form life-long bonds and relationships by going to games, practices and even being part of the locker room. The partnership lasts for two years with each member. This is Villanova football’s second year participating in the program and Wesley is its third teammate.
“Wesley and his family, Christy and Justin, they’ve been great, “ coach Mark Ferrante said. “His brother and sister, as well. They come to practices in the summer. They attend some practices during the fall when they can fit it into their schedule. He was the honorary coin toss guy at one of our games.”
In addition to exposing these newly signed teammates to the collegiate sports atmosphere of practicing and being part of games, part of the program is about the personal bonds that form from being part of a team.
“The first time I met him, he barely said hello,” Ferrante said. “He ran behind his mom’s leg and would hide. But now with the interaction he’s had with our team, we have a handful of guys that are in a group chat with him so they send videos to each other. Now, he runs up and gives guys hugs and fist pumps.”
Throughout the years, multiple Villanova teams have partnered with Team IMPACT, including women’s basketball, men’s tennis, volleyball, women’s and men’s soccer and men’s basketball. As Villanova Athletics sees it, the partnership with TEAM IMPACT is a win-win for all involved.
“[Wesley] helps us from the point of giving back a little bit and being grateful,” Ferrante said. “How blessed are we to be able to play college athletics, because this young man probably never will. And then it is just a great outlet for families to be welcomed by a team, a whole college football team. It’s been a very rewarding experience for us, and hopefully for the families that we’ve had involved with us.”
This is just one of the many service opportunities Villanova football has participated in over the years, with its most famous one of course being the spring Bone Marrow Drive in which football players can be seen all over campus, reaching out and asking people to sign up to get tested and donate. In addition to this, the team also participates in Bucks County’s Athletes Helping Athletes program, in which athletes with special needs are paired with collegiate athletes in the spirit of friendship, with some athletes even going on to compete at Villanova’s Special Olympics.
“It’s just kind of what we do at Villanova, right?” Ferrante said. “We probably lead the country and community service and we do quite a bit with our football program.”
Even with all of this service, the team does not let that impact its performance on the field. In fact, serving the community may even help the team be more successful, as seen with its trip to the Football Champion Subdivision (FCS) Quarterfinals in which it conceded to South Dakota State.
“[The players] don’t always believe me right away, and I don’t know if they always listen, but one of the things I say to the guys is how everything is connected,” Ferrante said. “How you do anything is how you do everything. If you put forth great effort and enthusiasm in the classroom, it will carry over to the field. If you are passionate about one thing, you’re going to be passionate about other things. It all connects and obviously translates to some of the success that we’ve had on the field. And we just try to emphasize and stress the importance of giving your time to make someone else feel good and maybe have a little bit better life. Then that can come back and help you in the long run, as well.”
