The Athletes For Kids Story
In 2001, an 8-year old boy named Craig was struggling with a very difficult case of Tourette’s Syndrome, an incurable neurological disorder. Craig’s symptoms caused his head, body and limbs to jerk involuntarily, and also caused him to utter words that were inappropriate in social situations. As a result, this third grader from Sammamish, Washington began to feel lonely and excluded.
Because of his disease, Craig suffered a severe blow to his self-esteem and began to sink into depression. Life stopped being fun for him. Before the onset of his Tourette’s symptoms, Craig had been a normal, happy-go-lucky little boy. His parents wanted to help him cope with his condition somehow, yet they were unsure of what to do for him.
In their search for a solution, Craig’s parents found a star athlete at Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington named Simi, who was willing to mentor Craig each month to help him feel better about himself and boost his self-esteem. Simi happened to have a younger brother with a serious disability himself. Coincidentally, while Simi was mentoring Craig, he was also setting new school records in football and baseball. Other kids became more accepting of Craig once they discovered that Simi was his special friend.
Having witnessed the profound success of Simi’s mentorship of Craig, Craig's parents and Simi soon realized that they had a unique opportunity to help other disabled children and their families, too. The three of them, along with Simi’s father, established Athletes For Kids to do just that. Simi’s mentorship of Craig became the model upon which Athletes For Kids would be based.
Before graduating from high school and attending the University of Washington to play football and baseball, Simi recruited a group of fellow athletes, both male and female, from Skyline High School to help launch a “pilot” program for Athletes for Kids. Simi’s founding group of athlete-mentors underwent training for their new role, and were then matched up with children with disabilities from local elementary schools.
The parents of these children reported that the founding athlete-mentors were making a real difference in their children's lives in a very short period of time. As an added benefit, the founding athlete-mentors experienced a high level of personal satisfaction from their mentorships.