Every Halloween, the girls varsity soccer team wears costumes, but this year you will not find them on the field. Instead, the Lady Blue Devils will be volunteering at the Trunk-or-Treat event for Special Olympics athletes in Jersey City tomorrow morning.
Typically, the team has a fun-filled practice to celebrate the holiday. Sophomore Natalie Bond said, “Last year we played dodgeball, did an egg toss and also each group dressed up.” However, this season the team is focusing on service, according to Head Coach Alexander Schmidt. “In the beginning of the season we talked about the importance of servant leadership and how it applies to not only our team, but to life as well,” said Schmidt. “This is a great way…to practice it.”
Schmidt’s wife organizes the Special Olympics program in Jersey City and has been organizing the Trunk-or-Treat event for three years. His family volunteers every Saturday when the team is not practicing.
This year Schmidt decided to get the girls involved as a way to continue with the season of service, which included a Lord & Taylor fashion show and an Athleta event to raise money for Greta’s Run.
The girls are very excited about helping the community and giving back. Senior Co-Captain Olivia Luzzi said, “I’m looking forward to helping out people in need because the LBD program definitely has a lot of supporters and we want to be supporters of other people too.”
In addition, the players will compete to see whose costumes and cars will be decorated the best. Luzzi said she is planning a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme, while other players are keeping their plans under wraps. Senior Julia Frontero would offer only this: “We want to come up with a theme that we can wear matching outfits with.”
But in the end, this event is not about the fun costumes. Said Schmidt: “On the LBD team, we always talk about how the most genuine thing…is to do something for someone and expect nothing in return. Giving the athletes a memory like Trunk-or-Treat and knowing you made [someone’s] day just a little bit better is worth more than any championship the team can win.”