Taken From NWI TiMES.COM
VALPARAISO — On an early February night just days after the polar vortex departed Northwest Indiana, Valparaiso University students made their way through the snow, feet crunching on frozen grass, to the Duesenberg Recital Hall inside the Center for Arts.
The small theater played host to an event seemingly out of place. Bathed in amber light, students applauded as Thais Carter, the director of Valparaiso’s Institute of Leadership and Service, welcomed the night’s guest. For the next hour and a half, the crowd sat back as reggae artist Taj Weekes spoke of his life experiences and played a sampling of his music.
It wasn’t Weekes’ first visit to Valpo, either. Over the years, he has struck up a relationship with the Crusaders’ men’s soccer program and head coach Mike Avery in an unlikely pairing that has nonetheless blossomed over time.
Each year, Valparaiso hosts one match in which it wears blue kits and donates all proceeds to They Often Cry Outreach, a philanthropic organization co-founded by Weekes that combats issues such as pediatric diabetes and domestic violence in Weekes’ homeland of St. Lucia. Avery has hosted soccer clinics on the island and helps TOCO distribute soccer balls to underprivileged St. Lucian children.
“It was crazy the first time I heard it, because he’s from St. Lucia, and he’s all the way here in Indiana,” Crusaders senior midfielder Demar Rose said. “When I heard about it, it was pretty cool. Shocking, because of the different culture and all that, but I was excited to be a part of it.”
The partnership serves as just one example of the team’s commitment to diversity and service. Sixteen of Valparaiso’s 28 players this past season hail from outside the United States, and Avery and the team have tried to make them feel more at home. Years ago, Avery and the Crusaders launched Valparaiso’s campus diversity initiative, #oneVALPO, where signees pledge to respect and welcome other cultures.
That commitment started from an email exchange shortly after Avery took over in 2006. It grew as a result of two matches in 2013.
Commitment to service
When Avery arrived at Valparaiso after stints as an assistant at Louisville and Notre Dame, he knew he wanted to create an identity for his team off the field.
Ideally, Valpo would partner with a charity of some sort and help raise funds or donate excess equipment. An option plopped down in Avery’s lap when he received an email from Weekes asking for extra gear on behalf of TOCO that was sent to every Division I program.
Avery immediately responded with an emphatic “yes.” Weekes said Avery was one of the first coaches to reply, and before long, Avery was traveling to St. Lucia to host a clinic for at-risk youth — his first of an estimated three or four trips to the island.
St. Lucia’s diabetes rate stands at approximately 11.3 percent of residents between age 20 and 79, according to the International Diabetes Federation’s 2017 Diabetes Atlas. That surpasses the global average of 8.8 percent, and Weekes hoped that encouraging youngsters to live less sedentary lifestyles could one day decrease the prevalence of diabetes in St. Lucia.
Weekes’ idea? Stoke interest in soccer.
“Of course, you may not see an immediate impact, but you’re changing lives that would have otherwise been gotten sick or been pre-diabetic or something,” Weekes said. “I always tell people, if you give a child a soccer ball, for a certain amount of minutes, he has to focus on something, and he has to practice something and try to be better at something. So life skills are taught, too. The impact is immeasurable.”
Avery expected about 30 children would attend the camp, held at the national team stadium. Instead, so many wanted in that kids scaled the fence around the venue. An estimated 300 to 400 showed up, to the point where the field barely had room for all of them.
At the end of the day, Avery realized his backpack — containing his wallet, passport and cell phone — had been stolen. Authorities tracked down a boy who had attended the camp and made off with the bag, whom Avery described as the type of child whose life he hoped to give structure to.
When Avery returned stateside, his wife, Carin, said he should have brought the boy back home. Instead, Avery did the next best thing: He and Carin adopted a child.
Rose and senior midfielder Adan Garcia said Avery’s generosity and dedication to helping others make him stand out.
“That, I feel like, makes a lot of people want to come here, because he’ll take care of you,” Garcia said. “He’ll love you as one of his own.”
Alleged racial abuse sparks action
Years later, an on-field incident against Jacksonville at North Florida precipitated change that permeated the greater university community.
Valparaiso ran out a starting lineup consisting mostly of minority players, according to Avery, and one opposing player allegedly directed a racial slur at Crusaders defender Yannick Iwunze. An intense scene unfolded in the locker room at halftime.
Avery said he offered to boycott the match, but players had a different idea: They would continue play and show that hate wouldn’t get in their way. Yet despite Avery’s appeals to officials and the opposing coaching staff to take action, the slurs kept coming in the second half, according to Avery. Forward Daniel Killen struck a Jacksonville player and received a red card, and the teams combined for four yellow cards in the match’s final 20-plus minutes.
It didn’t stop there, however. A few months later, Avery said another opponent used a racial slur during a game in Michigan. After the match, Avery heard something disconcerting. Players said they had endured racism around campus, too.
“I was shocked,” Avery said. “I was floored when I heard that kind of stuff.”
Avery and the team decided they had to do something to promote respect. As an answer, the Crusaders developed the #oneVALPO pledge. Avery had opponents sign the statement before games, affirming a commitment to “show respect for all others,” no matter who they were.
The trend caught on around Valpo, as Garcia said he has heard of student organizations like fraternities and sororities sign the pledge. The Crusaders hope they’ve used a negative situation to effect positive change in their community.
“The OneValpo thing, personally, I’ve seen it all over the internet,” Rose said. “My friends that don’t come to Valpo, family members, are always commenting, ‘OneValpo.’ I’m pretty sure they don’t know what it is, but once the word is out, people will be more looking to it and see what it’s about. … I would say it has had a positive effect on every student, athlete, non-athlete, because of the story behind it and the diverse group of student that is at Valpo itself.”
Prospects take notice
Avery, Rose and Garcia say Valpo’s embrace of all cultures correlates with its diverse roster.
Over 92 percent of Porter County residents are white, according to the United States Census Bureau. Twenty-nine percent of Valparaiso’s students are “multicultural,” according to the university’s website. Rose said such statistics can be discouraging for prospective athletes who aren’t familiar with Northwest Indiana.
Plus, Rose acknowledged that factors like climate and distance can make the adjustment hard for student-athletes from overseas. Garcia said some teammates arrive at Valpo unable to speak English. For Rose, a native of Jamaica who said he lived there his entire life before matriculating at Valparaiso, the program’s relationship with Weekes and the #oneVALPO initiative made him feel more comfortable with the Crusaders.
“It makes us all feel like we’re one, which is good,” Rose said. “It makes us be more like a family. We’re all connected in some ways. We share, obviously, different cultures. But when we’re in the locker room, it’s like one culture.”
Rose and Garcia said they feel the #oneVALPO pledge in particular can make an impact due to a global trend of racism in soccer. Garcia said the Crusaders hope to get other teams to pick up the pledge and that he hasn’t witnessed any racial abuse during games — something he and Rose think the pledge has helped with.
“I’ve seen (racism) all over Europe,” Rose said. “Sometimes I’ve seen where fans throw bananas at black players and everything like that. It’s just something that the whole community has to come together and fight against it. The OneValpo thing is one example of doing that and a good start.”
Avery said that he values toughness above all other traits when evaluating prospects. As the Crusaders hope to foster respect for others on campus and across college soccer, he hopes the affiliation with Weekes and TOCO continues to provide inspiration.
“One of the things that I’ve come to realize is you’ve got to be tough enough to be kind,” Avery said. “That’s what I’m trying to share through experiences with our team through our little involvement: That we can make a difference.”