University of North Carolina Athletics
CAROLINA: Putting Pen To Paper
May 12, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Student-Athlete Development
NOTE: This article originally appeared in the May 10 issue of CAROLINA, the official magazine of UNC Athletics and the Rams Club.
by Turner Walston
Back in January, a young man named Dylan wrote a letter to Carolina guard Nate Britt. After congratulating Britt on the team's early success, Dylan suggested Britt call a play for Marcus Paige to come off of a double screen for a three-point attempt. You know, to help Marcus find his shot again. In closing, Dylan asked Nate for a few tips on breaking the press for an upcoming game.
Dylan is a fifth-grader a New Hope Elementary, and he and Britt correspond through the Carolina Athletics Pen Pal program.
Now in its third year, the program was the brainchild of former lacrosse player Zoë Skinner, who visited New Hope to mentor and thought that letter-writing would give the students and student-athletes an opportunity to interact beyond occasional school visits. “We're all super busy but we all do want to give back in some way and in our own way,” Skinner said of her fellow student-athletes. “This was a really great opportunity for every athlete to have a chance to give back to the younger generation.”
It started small, with student-athletes writing to a single class of fifth-graders in the fall of 2013. This year, more than 350 Carolina student-athletes exchanged letters every few weeks with students in the second through fifth grades at New Hope. Today, Tar Heel kicker Nick Weiler helps coordinate the program on the student-athlete side, with student-athlete development assistant Korie Sawyer facilitating the process from her office in the Loudermilk Center for Excellence.
“When we had that first initial year, when it was one classroom, people started to show their teammates the letters, and they thought it was the funniest thing ever,” Weiler said. “So everyone wanted a pen pal. The next year, the growth was exponential.”
The first letters tend to be introductory, with the students and student-athletes sharing biographical information and details about their sports. “The kids ask a lot of questions,” Sawyer said.
“Do you have any pets? Do you have any siblings?” Weiler added.
“Favorite food,” said Sawyer.
As the pen pals get to know one another, the student-athletes find they have new supporters in their sports, and the students appreciate having an older mentor. It doesn't matter that not all the letters come from football or men's basketball players; a note from a rower or a fencer can be just as special. “It didn't really matter what sport you played,” Skinner said. “It was the fact that you were a college student and an athlete at Carolina.” Skinner's first pen pal was a diehard Duke fan, for example, but she quickly became a fan of Carolina women's lacrosse.
Through the series of letters, student-athletes build relationships with young people of the Chapel Hill community, taking advantage of an opportunity they might not have had otherwise. “It's just another way that you understand that this community is behind you, and you obviously want to give back,” said men's lacrosse captain Patrick Kelly. “It's a cool friendship that is built through this program.”
The 2015-16 school year culminated with a Pen Pal Meet and Greet at the April 26 baseball game against UNC Wilmington, where the students and student-athletes met, many for the first time. There were handshakes, hugs and laughs as they all hung out under the third base bleachers. Volleyball player Casey Jacobs and New Hope student Caroline Reale struck up a friendship through the letters, writing about favorite movies and sports. There were smiles all around when they met in person. Caroline said she eagerly opens her letters from Jacobs. “I'm really happy and excited, and I try to think of other exciting things that I can ask her, and can't wait until I can get a letter back from her,” she said.
“It's so fun,” Jacobs said of her correspondence with Caroline. “It's so cool having someone look up to you that you don't know. We don't get much interaction with people younger than us, especially now that I'm away from home. It's very rare that I meet younger kids, and it's really cool to talk to someone younger.”
At a picnic table, track and field's Ceo Ways and young Mason Hester bonded over a shared love of the Hulk. “We're not huge fans of Spider-Man,” Ways said. “We think he could be doing better.”
Ways said he enjoyed the opportunity to connect with Hester in an old-fashioned way. “When I was younger, all we did was write letters,” he said. “But he's in a different generation now.”
“I think it's cool that this is such a lost art of communication,” Sawyer added. “It's so easy, and it can make a big difference.”
“And the impact is so much bigger than a text or an email,” Weiler said.
Ways and Hester plan to continue their friendship in the future. “I definitely want to stay in contact with him until he gets to college,” Ways said, “and then he can be a pen pal to someone else.”
In a world dominated by social media, it's refreshing to see these Tar Heel student-athletes slow down and put pen to paper, taking the time to connect with elementary school students. “That's what character is, and it's something that I think Carolina really taught me,” Skinner said. “It's what you do when nobody's watching that is really a testament to who you are.”
And, in Britt and Dylan's case, it's also an opportunity to share those tips on beating the press. “To beat the press you can't panic,” Britt wrote Dylan. “Don't let the other team speed you up and make you go faster than you want to go. Try to always leave yourself a way out, by pass or dribble.”
When Dylan takes the court and breaks a press, he's going to remember, 'Nate Britt taught me that,' and he'll think of his pen pal.
Players Mentioned
