In college athletics, success is so often defined by wins and losses. And while there was plenty of winning to be had on the Park Blocks in 2019, one of the biggest success stories for the department came outside of competition. Portland State athletes combined for over 1,700 hours of community service in the 2018-19 school year, a big win for the city of Portland and the athletic department.
The Vikings saw not only a lot of total hours turned in, but fantastic participation by student-athletes. There were eight Viking teams that saw at least 95 percent of its players donate time and three different teams that exceeded 100 total hours. Lindsay Meiggs, the Director of Student-Athlete Development at Portland State, said the impact of the service is a two-way street for both the community and the student-athletes.
"As a department we encourage our student-athletes to participate in activities outside of athletics and emphasize the importance of campus and community engagement," Meiggs said. "Our goal is to give student-athletes the opportunity to participate in impactful community service that not only makes an impact on our community but also leaves a mark on our student-athletes."
Individually, Portland State had 28 different student-athletes across all sports give more than 20 hours of their time. Two athletes -
Jacky Huchler and
Tiegan Horton from women's soccer - gave upwards of 130 hours of their time.
The community service hours were spread out across many different organizations. The ALS Association,
Bald Faced Truth Foundation and the
Student Community Engagement Center at Portland State were the three biggest benefactors of the community service time, each receiving about 250 or more hours of time from the Vikings.
The hours are also separated into categories, with children and youth receiving nearly 700 hours of the Vikings' community service. For women's tennis senior Ashley Knecht, interacting with the youth in the community is one of the biggest reasons she gives her time.
"I also have a younger sister so being a role model and showing kids that if you put in a little extra work it really pays off in the end, that's something I really want to convey to kids," Knecht said. "Even though it is a lot of work to be a college athlete, it is really fun."
The events that stood out the most to Knecht were opportunities before basketball games, some of which she helped set up as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Over the course of the year there were several opportunities, none more impactful than the pregame celebration during National Girls and Women in Sports Day. The Vikings had 24 athletes interact with over 100 young girls, playing games with them and teaching them about what life is like as a collegiate athlete.
"That was really fun. We were playing games with them and it was really cool to see," Knecht said. "Usually kids don't like tennis that much because it can be really frustrating, but it was cool to see their excitement about it. There were a few kids who kept running back to our station which was really sweet. Just to see how much sports can help young girls grow confidence, that was a really fun thing to be a part of."
Sometimes, the hours came in bunches, like when 169 student-athletes came together to form Elinore's Vikings at the annual Walk to Defeat ALS held by the ALS Association (For more info on why PSU participates in this event, read here). Lance Christian, the Executive Director or The ALS Association Oregon and SW Washington Chapter, noted before the event how great it is to consistently receive support from Portland State athletics.
"Each year all of our community supporters look forward to seeing the green clad PSU athletes adding energy and enthusiasm to raise awareness of ALS," Christian said. "PSU athletics has been an electric partner for the Walk the Defeat ALS for more than 13 years."
Knecht participated in the event for the fourth time this year and said it has been extremely impactful for her to see the support that Portland State gives Elinore and the cause of ALS.
But other times it is just a half hour here and there, squeezing volunteer time into the already busy schedule of the student-athlete. They give the most time to children and youth, but also gave nearly 500 hours to health and over 300 to civic and community.
The 2018-19 school year saw an incredible turnout in Viking community service, but Meiggs said that she anticipates the student-athletes will close in on 2,500 hours in 2019-20. If you are interested in having student-athletes volunteer at a community event please complete the following form,
https://goviks.com/sb_output.aspx?form=65.
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