Dominican Program Connects Collegiate Athletes, Schoolchildren
Thomas Oosterbroek is more than happy to kick a soccer ball with San Rafael middle school students about half his height.
“Kids have a great deal of energy,” said Oosterbroek, a Dominican University of California basketball player who stands 6 feet, 8 inches tall. “They keep me young.”
Oosterbroek and two of his teammates mixed it up recently at a freewheeling indoor soccer game with about 15 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from Davidson Middle School in San Rafael.
The hoops players are three of about 30 Dominican athletes who volunteer several times a month for the Allen Sports Camp, a free afterschool program for Marin schoolchildren.
“Our coach encourages us to put in the work, on and off the court,” said Stephen Ransom, a 6-foot-5 basketball player. “There’s a lot of talk from the kids about how tall we are.”
Students from Venetia Valley School in San Rafael also participate in the program, adding another half-dozen or so players to the mix, said Matt Gaulding, a Dominican administrator who has been managing the Allen Sports Camp program since 2017.
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“One of our university pillars is service,” said Gaulding. “This program is just as much about helping kids as it is helping our students. It also shows kids that you have an opportunity to go to college.”
In addition to basketball, the volunteer athletes are on university soccer, lacrosse, volleyball and golf teams, Gaulding said.
Allen Sports Club was created in 2015 by board of trustees emeritus member John Allen. The Marin resident established the program and funded it, said Amy Henkelman, Dominican athletic director.
“It was his vision to have high school and middle school students be able to have a safe, healthy environment when they’re done with school,” Henkelman said. “And for them to be exposed to college, so that they know they have opportunities to work towards college when they’re done with school.”
The program started out slow but gained momentum after the pandemic when Pepe Gonzalez, community partnerships director for San Rafael City Schools, got involved. Gonzalez, a Dominican graduate and former principal in the school district, forged connections between the university and the school district, Gaulding said.
“It’s been a build-back program since COVID,” Gaulding said. “It’s been really difficult. The partnership with Pepe in the spring is really what got this back up and running again.”
Dominican University of California basketball player Jorge Ochoa gives Davidson Middle School student Elisa Saquiche, 11, a high-five during the Allen Sports Club afterschool program at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Sherry LaVars/Marin Independent Journal)
Gonzalez said the program has been life-changing for some participants.
“For many of our first generation students whose parents did not attend college, it is an opportunity for them to step on a college campus and play sports with college athletes,” he said. “It provides them the hope that they one day could also be a college student.”
Gaulding and other administrators pick up the students after school in vans and bring them on campus, where they receive a free snack. Then they go inside the gym or on the outdoor fields to run around, hit balls, romp, scream and laugh with the varsity athlete volunteers.
They ride back on the vans or a bus to their schools, where their parents pick them up.
The camp takes place from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition to the volunteers, the program has five employees who manage the attendance rolls, produce a newsletter and handle other administrative duties, Gaulding said.
“I absolutely love it,” Gaulding said. “It’s great to see the satisfaction of the kids to have something to do after school. And the volunteers are really great to work with.”