MILES OF SMILES: Sunshine’s Football Clinic brings joy to all involved
A clinic attendee smiles broadly as he is pushed into the end zone by a Churchill football player.
Humanity at its finest was on full display Friday night on the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park’s west turf field.
The happiness creator was the 11th Annual Sunshine’s Skills and Drills Free Football Clinic, which pairs high school football players and coaches from Plymouth High School and Livonia Churchill High School with kids who live (and thrive) with special needs.
The clinic was initiated in 2014 by then-10-year-old Connor Sherman when he was a student at Canton’s Workman Elementary School.
As a fourth-grader in Melanie Gray’s class at Workman, Sherman, who now attends Bowling Green State University in Ohio, came up with a plan for a special-needs football clinic during “Genius Hour”, a project that allowed students to create a “Passion Project” and share it with the class, school and the world.
Smiles were abundant
Although Gray and Sherman’s parents – Eric and Jennifer – acknowledged turning the idea into reality would be challenging, they supported him 100%.
No matter where you looked Friday night, smiles were plentiful — both on the faces of the green-shirted “kids” who face physical and/or emotional challenges daily and on the high school players, who embraced their opportunity to brighten the day of the clinic’s attendees and their parents.
“I just can’t get over how these teen-aged kids are so comfortable and bond so easily with the kids their paired with,” said Scott Robertson, whose son Max has been a clinic attendee since its inaugural summer. “I get a little choked up even talking about it because this clinic is one of the highlights of Max’s year.”
(To check out a short video depicting the joy the clinic brings, click here.)
After overseeing the clinic during its formative years, the Sherman family handed the organizational baton to Pioneer Middle School educator and Churchill Assistant Football Coach Brian Rochon (who has been a leader at Sunshine’s since its inception) and Workman educator Jamie Allen.
“Jamie is in charge of securing volunteers, ordering the T-shirts, a million behind-the-scenes things,” Rochon said. “I handle all the football-related stuff.
‘It’s a blessing’
“It’s such a wonderful event. You see all these smiling faces … it’s just a blessing that it gives these kids facing daily challenges an opportunity to just be a kid for a day.”
Rochon said the clinic is a fun and educational experience for the football players who take part.
“It teaches them humility and selflessness,” Rochon said. “The first year we did it, we weren’t sure how many kids were going to show up, if it was a one-year deal or what the future held. I’m so happy we’ve been able to make it an annual event because so many kids look forward to it.”
Close to 60 kids facing challenges attended Friday’s clinic, which, as always, delivered several heart-warming scenes.
Fun despite the heat
There was a Churchill football player pushing his wheelchair-bound “buddy” up and down the field, defying the close-to-90-degree heat in order to manufacture a non-stop smile on the face of his new friend.
There was Max Robertson stealing the show with one of his joyful touchdown dances.
And there were parents lining the field who were beyond grateful that their kids, who have face so many touch times during their young lives, were experiencing joy that spills over beyond the three-hour clinic.
The clinic is free to the kids thanks in part to generous donations provided by the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park’s National Honor Society, which raised approximately $2,000 for the clinic with a spring powder puff football game; and Canton resident Fredi Bello (“Fredi The Pizzaman”), whose donations are beyond appreciated, Rochon said.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
