James Manning | Staff Writer | jmanning7@mail.smcvt.edu Photos by Kennedy Holsapple
At the Purple Knights’ women’s basketball game, a young girl in an oversized jersey stands with the St. Michael’s team. She isn’t a student of the college, but she sits with them on the bench, cheers them on during warmups and the game, and it becomes clear that she is as much a part of the team as any of the college students three times her age. This is a result of Team IMPACT.
Team IMPACT is a nationwide program that matches kids managing chronic illness with local college sports teams. According to the program’s website, it’s designed to “guide children and teams alike in a mutually beneficial relationship of belonging, empowerment, and resilience.” Social workers, families, and university teams collaborate in this program. At St. Michael’s, the women’s basketball, women’s soccer,
softball, and men’s baseball teams all have a Team IMPACT member, and those involved with the teams will be the first to attest to the bond between the kids and the team.
“We call Hazel our lucky charm,” said Shannon Bollhardt, head coach of the St. Michael’s women’s basketball team, of their Team IMPACT player. “She’s been to every home game, and she even surprised us on the road. She drove all the way to our Southern Connecticut game.”
Each Team IMPACT player has different needs, and so they create different plans depending on the kid’s age and what they can participate in. Many older kids have an affinity toward a specific sport, but for many younger kids, it’s not necessarily about the specific sport. “We actually do a lot of stuff outside of practice,” Bollhardt said. “We try to meet her where she’s at. It’s about the sense of community.”
For 7-year-old Hazel, the team planned activities around Halloween and Christmas to meet with her outside of the practice, and sometimes, Team IMPACT can help give experiences to the kids that might otherwise be difficult to reach.
Mariella, a Team IMPACT player who is part of the St. Michael’s women’s soccer team, traveled with them to Spain last year on the team’s international trip. “I said, let’s see if
we can make this happen,” said Wendy Elles, head coach of the women’s soccer team.
“It was life-changing for her, but just amazing for our team, too, to have her part of that experience.” The team visited Real Madrid and Barcelona, playing soccer and experiencing the area on a week-and-a-half trip.
“They go over to their house for dinners,” said Elles of the relationship between the team, Mariella, and her family. “I think our players are pretty remarkable, how they’ve fostered the relationship with her and the family. There’s been times where she’s been
in the hospital and we go over and visit her, or if she’s having a really difficult period, we go over and support her at her house.”
“She’s just the best,” said Kiera Parker, ’25, of Katie, a Team IMPACT player with the St. Michael’s softball team. Parker is a softball player and a Team IMPACT fellow and regional leader, who helps to organize the program at St. Michael’s. Her job involves speaking to local kids who might be interested and spreading word around the campus.
“Even if we’re losing, we’re down a few points, she’ll be there in the dugout with a big smile on her face, telling us, it’s okay, great job.”
St. Michael’s currently has four Team IMPACT teammates involved with the school’s athletic teams, but Team IMPACT ambassadors at the school have hopes of expanding
the program further. “One of the goals is to just try to find as many kids as possible to sign up for the program,” Parker said.
“I think the majority of our teams have an application in,” Bollhardt said. “It’s just finding the kiddo that makes the most sense with the match.” A program like Team IMPACT is
more challenging to run at a smaller school like St. Michael’s in a smaller city, but the efforts of the ambassadors and coaches have gotten results.
“I think this is the most matches we’ve ever had at one time,” Bollhardt said.
As for the future of Team IMPACT at St. Michael’s, Parker is hopeful. “I have so much faith in the coaches and the program,” she said. “Team IMPACT won’t go anywhere.”