By LAUREN MCDONALD lmcdonald@thebrunswicknews.com

By LAUREN MCDONALD lmcdonald@thebrunswicknews.com

By Atlanta United Communications

By TAYLOR COOPER

tcooper@thebrunswicknews.com

COVID-19 has put the kibosh on most sports programs, but Coastal Outreach Soccer isn’t letting that get in the way of keeping kids physically and mentally active.

“We’re encouraging our kids as much as they can to focus on completing their assignments academically as well as getting them the resources they’re in need of to do that,” said Shawn Williams, executive director of the sports and academic mentoring program.

With schools shut down and a statewide social distancing mandate in effect, Williams said that means getting educational material and supplies, including laptops, home-delivered to children in the program.

“We are actually looking at starting some virtual STEM activities, purchasing kits that we’ll be able to give kids to do a virtual class with them,” Williams said. “What we’ve been looking at is what can we do to keep them engaged.”

Keeping kids active, both mentally and physically, is especially important when so many are cooped up inside.

Without an outlet, like the soccer team, to blow off some of their energy, Williams said Coastal Outreach Soccer is doing what it can.

“All our kids have been given some drills and stuff they can do at home,” Williams said. “We give them a soccer ball and a drill sheet so they can go out to the yard and do some drills each day.

“We’ve had some kids take videos of what they’re doing in their yard so we can share those with the teams and families to encourage them to keep active.”

The program has also taken up delivering food to families whose breadwinners are furloughed or laid off.

“Our program has always been about identifying the needs of our children and families, and making that adjustment to help them meet those needs,” Williams said.

The food was donated by local restaurants through the Meals to Heal program and Rich’s, while a lot of the money for school supplies came from an emergency charity fund to help local families dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Coastal Outreach Soccer is one of fourteen local nonprofit organizations that received a grant award in the first distribution from the Community Emergency Needs Fund,” said Virginia Brown, president and CEO of United Way of Coastal Georgia, which manages the fund along with the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation.

So far, $400,000 has been donated to the fund and $100,000 has been awarded to local groups to “provide basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, water, prescriptions, healthcare and transportation to work and medical care.”

For more information, visit coastalgeorgiafoundation.org/news/coronavirus.

Coastal Outreach Soccer has also been involved in giving back to health care workers during these uncertain times. When Brunswick High alum and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay donated 175 meals to Southeast Georgia Health System team members, it was Coastal Outreach Soccer who helped deliver the meals.

Slay has been involved with the program for years, hosting camps and providing support for the program.

The support that Coastal Outreach Soccer has gotten over the years has been put to great use.

The program was founded in 2004 as an after-school program aimed at underserved and low-income families. COS had 15 players at the time.

Since then, the organization has grown to support more than 200 children between the ages 4 and 18 years old. Their academic endeavors have as successful as the program’s athletic ones with a 100 percent graduation rate since 2014.

Visit www.coastaloutreachsoccer.com for more information about the program or to make a donation.

The Champ Is Here event was held on Dec 6, 2019 to raise funds for COS. A huge crowd came out for Q & A, autographs and pictures with two time world cup champion Morgan Brian.

COS STEM program kickoff during the spring 2019 with computer coding program for COS 5th to 12th grade student athletes at the Big Play Center of Excellence. College of Coastal Georgia joined forces with COS to launch the second phase of the STEM program. The robotic program started on Dec 4th and will conclude in March. The third phase of the program will include exploration into the world of virtual reality.

The Brunswick News

Jyniah Desameau’s participation in Coastal Outreach Soccer has given her more than skills on the soccer pitch. She’s also been given a support group that pushes her to be her best.
The Glynn Middle School student poured these sentiments into an essay submitted to a national contest this year. And over the summer, Desameau, 13, learned that out of several thousand essay entries, her submission was named a first place winner.

“I was surprised,” she said. “I was happy … I didn’t know how big it was or how serious it was.”

The essay contest is sponsored by the Women’s Sports Foundation, founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King to create leaders and ensure all girls have access to sports.

The contest was open to middle school girls involved in sports programs. The essay question asked: “What inspires you to keep playing?”

Desameau wrote eloquently in her essay and clearly expressed her strong feelings for the COS program.

“Many people think when you’re playing a sport, you just show up to practice, play other teams and go home, but not at COS,” she wrote. “The bond at soccer is like family. …It’s easy to be able to build relationships and to be able to comfortably tell what’s on your mind. I trust all my coaches and can rely on them.”

Last year, when her mother died unexpectedly, Desameau found comfort in her family away from home at Coastal Outreach Soccer.

“I don’t really think about it because they keep me occupied,” she said.

Desameau is one of three national essay winners who will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City next month to attend the Women’s Sports Foundation’s “Salute to Women in Sports” gala.

“We didn’t know that this talent was there, her ability to write and be able to communicate in that way, to be able to express some things that she felt about the program,” said Shawn Williams, executive director of Coastal Outreach Soccer. “I think that was the thing that really touched us, not only myself but the other coaches that are here, just reading what she had wrote about how this program has made an impact in her life and how she sees it as a very important piece of her life as well.”

The event in New York will feature a red carpet walk, and Desameau will have a chance to meet some of the most well-known women in sports, including Billie Jean King.

“This event is attended by a lot of prominent women athletes,” Williams said. “… We’re looking forward to just that exposure, for her to see those role models.”

In her essay, Desameau wrote that there are three inspirations that keep her playing — her teammates, her improved academics and her respect for Williams, her coach.

“He showed me hard work pays off,” she said. “… And it pushes me to work harder, because I want to be successful like him.”

Spotlight on Schools appears Thursdays. Contact Lauren McDonald at lmcdonald@thebrunswicknews.com or at 912-265-8320, ext. 322 to suggest a topic for a column.

The Brunswick News

Kids looking to play some sports, parents looking to learn about resources available to them or anyone looking for community fellowship is welcome to attend Coastal Outreach Soccer’s annual jamboree in Paulk Park later this month.

“We’ll have registration set up, we’ll play some small 3v3, 4v4 games,” said Shawn Williams, Coastal Outreach Soccer’s executive director. “Food will be available — the Omega Psi Phi fraternity has agreed to grill hotdogs and hamburgers for the kids and families that attend. And we’ll have something for everyone. It really becomes a day of fun for the entire family.”

In particular, Williams said he’s looking for more coaches as the soccer program expands to Paulk Park. No experience is necessary.

“We will have a coaching training to introduce them to our curriculum,” he said. “No experience in soccer necessary. It’s more finding people with a passion for helping the youth and impacting the community.”

Pursuing the program’s goal of improving the lives of young folks, the jamboree won’t be all about soccer, Williams said.

“What we’re looking to be able to do is bring resources into the Arco community and being able to engage the families,” Williams said. “The jamboree will serve as an introduction to Coastal Outreach Soccer and the partners we have as well, so not only the children but the entire family will know the services that’s available to them.”

Representatives for organizations dedicated to helping students academically will be on hand, as well as those that work with parents and families.

“We definitely want to do our best to engage the entire family,” Williams said. “We feel like it’s very important that we provide services to the entire family, so as the children grow the family unit can grow as well. If there are other nonprofit organizations that would like to set up a table to distribute information, they can contact us as well.”

Along with helping the youth in the area, Williams said he hopes Coastal Outreach Soccer can become an asset to the whole community.

“One of the things we’ve already done, we’ve already formed an Arco community advisory group,” he said. “School members, a person that grew up in the Arco community, the chairman of the NPA in that area. We’re looking for more people to serve on that to determine the needs of the community and to help get an action plan together to address the needs of the Arco community.”

Anyone who misses out on the jamboree can still sign up for the soccer program, Williams said.

“If they’re unable to make it, then we can email them an application,” he said. “We’re working with the school system to have them at Sterling and Jane Macon, so kids can pick them up from there as well.”

The jamboree is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 24 in Paulk Park, located at 3600 Wylly Ave. in Brunswick.

For more information, please email cos-admin@hotmail.com or call Williams at 912-266-1491.

The Brunswick News

German Vargas described coding as “electronic Play-Doh” to the group of middle-school students.

The fun part, he told them, was that they could create anything their imaginations concocted if they used the right coding tools.

“You will be given all these different options, and from all those options you can do whatever you want to do,” said Vargas, assistant vice president for academic student engagement at the College of Coastal Georgia. “… You’re going to do this from scratch.”

Vargas then turned the lesson over to a group of College of Coastal Georgia students, who led the remainder of the coding instruction at the Big Play Center of Excellence, where Coastal Outreach Soccer runs its after-school academic programs.

The college students visited the after-school program many times this semester to teach coding through a partnership with the college’s Math and Engineering Club and Coastal Outreach Soccer.

“It’s been really fun. They’ve all responded really well,” said Julia Garner, a junior mathematics major who helped with the tutoring. “They’re all energetic and happy to learn, which is the best thing you can see out of any kind of student.”

The partnership with the college began with a conversation between Glynn County Schools administrators and Shawn Williams, the founder of Coastal Outreach Soccer.

Williams was seeking ways to create more STEM education opportunities in the community. When he asked for support, he said he received quick and eager assistance.

“We’re reinforcing what they’re learning in the classroom and taking that to another level of being able to problem solve and to engage,” he said.

Williams hopes to add robotics education this summer if grant funding comes through.

The students in the after-school program at the academic center also participate in the soccer program. Williams hopes that the students will learn to associate their love for soccer with the education opportunities they’re also receiving.

Coastal Outreach Soccer also added a book club for its girls this year that has been led by local female community leaders who can serve as mentors.

“Through the Women’s Sports Foundation, they sent us books to be able to engage our girls,” Williams said. “This was a national initiative for us to be able to start getting our young ladies involved in reading and also for them to see other athletes and to be able to read about the challenges that they’ve had to overcome and also the successes that they’ve had.”

The ultimate goal of Coastal Outreach Soccer, Williams said, is to help students reach graduation. The coding lessons and book club contribute to that greater purpose, he said.

“We are reinforcing that education is an important part of this program,” Williams said.

The coding lessons with the college students began with the basics and progressed to the point that the younger students were creating their own codes. Coding could open a trove of opportunities for the students, Vargas said.

“You can do so many things with coding that it’s going to be a skill that is going to be useful not only if they’re going into computer science but for any discipline that they’re going into,” he said.

COS girls book club celebrating completion of their 1st book Kelly Clark “Inspire” pursuit of progress. 10 weeks of discussion and reflection writing was lead by amazing group of women Stacy Taylor, Tara Dixon and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. OUR TIME

Jaelin Williams started playing with COS 2004.  Jaelin Williams earned his first cap with the Bahamas National Team in the Concacaf Nations League match versus Belize in September 2018. He will travel with the Bahamas National Team to Dominica in March to play in final 2018-19 Concacaf Nations League game. Jaelin is also one of five players from COS who plays soccer for Fisk University in Nashville TN.

STEM program was kickoff with COS Student Athletes and college of Coastal Georgia Math and Engineering Club students. Computer Coding (Computer Science) touches every aspect of our daily lives: Facebook, Xbox, Cell Phones, Tablets, Cars, and thousand of Apps.