Soccer spends beginning of offseason giving back to community

With their inaugural season under a new head coach complete, the Nicholls State University women’s soccer team has turned their attention to giving back to the community by partnering with Special Olympics Louisiana for a soccer clinic this Saturday.

The Nicholls soccer team will be divided into groups during the clinic, where each group will be responsible for teaching attendees a specific set of skills. After attendees rotate through all of the groups, they will play small soccer matches against one another.

“It’s fantastic,” Nicholls soccer Head Coach Michael McBride said. “This is certainly something [the players] are excited to be involved in. It confirms that I’ve got a very conscientious group of players.”

While the clinic is a first for the Nicholls soccer team, it is not the first time the University has done such an event. The Nicholls volleyball team held a similar event in conjunction with Special Olympics Louisiana earlier this year on April 30.

“Jeanne Murphy was the catalyst behind this event. She has been very involved and very supportive,” McBride said.

McBride said with the help of Jeanne Murphy, the wife of Nicholls’ University president, this clinic would be the start of a series of similar events to take place in the future. McBride also said that he has always wanted the Nicholls soccer team to contribute to the community from the moment he started with the team.

“It’s an opportunity to give back a little bit. It’s something [the soccer team] can benefit from,” McBride said.

Registration for the soccer clinic will begin at 9 a.m tomorrow, with the actual event starting at 10 a.m. and going on until noon.