November 3, 2015 (Football)
(With this year's fall semester sports sidelined by health concerns, let's take a look back at what was happening in Hilltopper sports on this date in history. Five years ago today, members of the West Liberty football team were featured on a local television station after hosting a weekly camp for elementary school students!)
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Wheeling television station WTRF-TV7 recently aired a special report about a pair of West Liberty University football players who have started up a weekly football camp as an outreach project for local grade-school kids from West Liberty Elementary.
Seniors Quentin Sifford and Kane Boroski came up with the idea of a Hilltopper Football Camp that would do more than just teach kids how to catch, throw and kick.
The Hilltopper players saw it as an opportunity to help the youngsters learn life lessons about the concept of teamwork as part of a safe and active after-school program.
"It's something I wish I'd had when I was younger," Sifford said. "It's my chance to give back and I love it."
Although the camp is held on Monday afternoons - normally an off day for the WLU football team - Sifford and Boroski didn't have any trouble finding teammates willing to pitch in and lend a hand.
"We had more guys signing up than we had kids," Boroski said.
"They love it," Sifford added. "We asked for volunteers after practice and just about everybody raised their hand. They all wanted to come."
West Liberty Assistant Professor of Health and Human Performance Kathleen Wack was impressed by the football players' interaction with the youngsters.
"Watching them just light up in front of the elementary school kids," Wack said. "That's really exciting for me to see."
Sifford, Boroski and 11 other seniors will be playing their final home game on the West Family Stadium turf Thursday night when Glenville State comes to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Here's a link to the story on the WTRF-TV7 website:
Teaching Life Lessons Through Football at WLU
