The minute UF athletes slip on their orange-and-blue jerseys, they are shoved into the spotlight.
Thousands of spectators from Gainesville come to root for them in their quest of chomping out the day’s opponent. But the effect UF athletes have on the community doesn’t stop when they peel off their jerseys and step out of the locker room.
Underneath their uniforms are hearts of gold.
While it’s well-known that the football team throws as much to the community as it does touchdowns, there are athletes throughout The Gator Nation who roll up their sleeves.
For one example, move down the road past the long shadow cast by The Swamp to Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.
Senior softball player Francesca Enea has been making her mark by transforming her glove hand into a helping hand.
In 2009, along with the help of others, Enea founded Swinging for Cancer, a fundraising event run by the softball program to benefit the Shands Cancer Research Hospital.
It is centered on coaches and players of the UF athletic community who attempt to hit off of the team’s ace pitcher. Afterward, fans are encouraged to fill out donation slips.
In 2009, Stacey Nelson threw heat and gave the star-studded batting order — including basketball coach Billy Donovan and baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan — a run for its money.
“Seeing the student-athletes and their coaches trying to hit off of Stacey was hilarious,” Enea said. “It was wonderful to have fun in the process of raising about $400 for Shands.”
This year’s event, held Saturday, will benefit Friends of Jaclyn, a program that pairs athletes with children who have brain tumors.
In Enea’s initiative to get involved with the Friends of Jaclyn program, the team gained 13-year-old Heather Braswell, who had been diagnosed with a medulloblastoma — a malignant brain tumor. Since Heather’s pairing with the Gators in the fall, she and the Gators have played softball games, celebrated Heather’s birthday in the locker room and just hung out together.
“Francesca and the girls are always texting Heather,” Terri said. “It’s indescribable how they have put a spring in Heather’s step.”
This Saturday, the Braswell family will make the 90-minute drive from Apopka to the Swinging for Cancer event.
The Braswells’ car will be easy to spot — the one in the parking lot showered in FSU stickers.
“My husband and I both went to Florida State and are die-hard ’Nole fans,” Terri said. “I remember being on the phone with the Friends of Jaclyn and finding out that Heather’s match was the Gators softball team. I told them I would go out and buy some blue and orange.”
Heather has gotten her share of UF gear over the months, including a softball jersey and an orange-and-blue Gators blanket, given to her as a birthday gift from the team.
“Heather was treated for her disease in Memphis,” Terri said. “Though Heather is currently cancer-free, we have to go up there every couple of months. That blanket is in our luggage every time we make the trip. The Gators are definitely represented in Tennessee.”
Saturday will also be the first time Heather and her family will meet members of the Friends of Jaclyn organization face-to-face.
Enea’s charity work goes much further than utilizing the sticky clay on the softball field.
She served as co-chair of the Gator Tracks program, a student-athlete organization that provides shoes to underprivileged elementary school students in Gainesville.
With that track record, Enea gets requests from teammates about how to get involved in the community.
“It’s the small things that count,” Enea said. “I really want to make sure that my team gets as involved in service as possible. It really is contagious.”
The gymnastics team is continuing the benevolence in the sports realm, most notably junior Alicia Goodwin, whose focus has been toward breast cancer awareness.
Tonight, Goodwin and her teammates will support the cause during the Link to Pink Meet against LSU, when both teams will don pink leotards.
“This really is a special event for us,” Goodwin said. “Our fans come out and support us during our meets, and this is an opportunity for us to give back to them.”
Goodwill Gators
To get involved, many athletes use the Goodwill Gators Community Outreach Program, set up by the University Athletic Association to provide them with various avenues to reach out to the Gainesville community.
Popular Goodwill Gators events include Gator Tracks and Climb for Cancer, an event in which pediatric cancer patients play sports with UF athletes.
Such service opportunities allow many Gators to take off their cleats and slip on the their do-gooder shoes.
Sophomore soccer player Marsha Harper has participated in more than 10 Goodwill Gator events, and her service work landed her a spot on the 2009 SEC Soccer Community Service Team.
“Winning this award really opened me and my teammates’ eyes to what a difference we can make with our free time,” Harper said.
Reaching Across Borders
Paving her own way in Gainesville — and America — is UF senior swimmer Gemma Spofforth, a native of England.
On top of gracing the O’Connell Center pool with her All-American and Olympian talent, Spofforth gives back as a phone counselor for the Alachua County Crisis Center.
“We provide support for people in crisis or in a state of depression,” Spofforth said. “We strive to understand a situation emotionally and provide support and solutions to people’s crisis situations and problems.”
Along with former UF quarterback Tim Tebow, Spofforth won the 2009 Ben Hill Griffin Award. The award, from Gator Boosters Inc., honors athletes who are all giving and soar athletically and academically.
“To be awarded for my efforts out of the pool alongside my athletic honors is by far more exciting to me,” Spofforth said. “I know I can swim, but to gain recognition for something that I have worked hard at and hasn’t come particularly easy to me is fantastic.”
Many would find it difficult to set up their lives in a foreign country, no less seeking ways to help others in theirs.
“I think that anywhere in the world community service means the same thing,” Spofforth said. “America has taught me multiple lessons, and over the past three-and-a-half years has become home to me. I love giving my time to people less fortunate than me because I understand how lucky I am.”
While many athletes grew into their service work, others were used to lending a hand.
Former volleyball player and recent graduate Kristina Johnson was raised in Indianapolis, with an eye toward service.
Her father, Ken, is a motivational speaker and team chaplain for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, and her family runs Emerging Eagles, a program dedicated to serving inner-city kids.
She kept the tradition alive, being named to the SEC Volleyball Community Service Team twice during her time at UF.
Her list of service work is almost as long as the legs that hold her 6-foot-2 frame.
A short excerpt of her participation involves her volunteerism with the Shands Cancer Wing, assistance with the intramural program at Stephen Foster Elementary and aid in the Gator Tracks program.
Soon, Johnson will take her dedication to service global. In March she’ll travel to Africa to do missionary work and teach religion.
Whether it’s on a field, in a gym or in the hospitals, athletes give back to the town that has supported them in their wins and losses.
It’s a safe bet that when Gators athletes aren’t sweating it out at practice or in a game, they are removing jerseys to represent UF in more ways than can be captured in any play, dunk, home run or touchdown.
