Please #PlayItForward for Lawrence Youth this Giving Season
Coach Steven consistently demonstrates dedication, kindness, patience, and professionalism. Despite his young age of just 16 he handles the responsibility of coaching an 18-player team with grace and composure."
Our commitment to positive sport-based youth development (SBYD) experiences continues to increase in response to recognized gaps in quality, year-round sports access in cities like Lawrence. Now, several years into our second decade, we continue to tackle those gaps and seize opportunities for more #play with renewed purpose and direction. Our three-year strategic plan continues to guide us, and new board members are ensuring our services and staffing are strengthened, most notably off the field through Academic Overtime, a new “Beyond” Resilient Girls in Sports curriculum, and a revamped parent engagement community through FUSE (Families United through Sports Experiences). Further annual leadership and youth jobs opportunities for teens and young adults like Steven (10th grade), Seline (11th grade), and Esmeralda (Master of Science Athletic Training at Merrimack College), highlighted above, will be advanced with YOUR support so they can better mentor and lead the next generation of young people in our programs a central plan priority that’s at the heart of our mission.
It is with heavy hearts that we share the recent passing of Paul “Lefty” Wennik on November 26, 2024.
As you can see from the scholarship established in his name, he profoundly influenced our mission, programs, players, and females. This recent social media share highlights just a small sampling of his impact. Read more below or click this recent social media share.
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Thanks to YOU, Beyond Soccer has it’s first scholarship fund!
The Cummings Foundation’s $25,000 donation together with a recent gift from the JPC Foundation, a special “Lefty” friend and donor, got us to our $100,000 goal!
On June 27th, 2023, Executive Director Stephanie and the Board, led by Board President Nina Leach, raised initial funding to provide Luiz Lopez with the first Paul Wennik Outstanding Character Scholarship. It meant that Luiz, pictured with his twin brother and Paul “Lefty” Wennik, received $5,000 in college tuition costs to attend UMass Lowell last fall. For Luiz, it fulfilled a tuition gap that the family was trying to meet and came as a total surprise!
For Luiz’s full scholarship award, click HERE!
For full Paul Wennik scholarship, click HERE!
The Eagle-Tribune captured some great photos of 2nd year Paul “Lefty” Wennik Outstanding Character Scholarship recipient Eliany Guzman with Paul and her family. Like Luiz (the 1st recipient), the scholarship offsets Eliany’s tuition costs. Today, she is studying biology at Northeastern. The article captures Eliany’s excellent on and off-field work ethic, including her comments that “Stephanie (Beyond Soccer Director) has seen me grow up, and I have seen her grow up with the program. I have seen everything (in Beyond Soccer) changing, growing, and learning as the years go by. It’s just very nice to see where the (organization) is right now compared to where it was when I first started.” Yes, we are always trying to get better together. Isn’t that an important message–and it’s important to remind our friends that Paul has been part of work to get better since the beginning
