University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Kendall Harden
Tar Heels Sign Honorary Team Captain Kendall Geer
January 15, 2020 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL – Three weeks away from the start of the season, North Carolina women's lacrosse coach Jenny Levy is pleased to announce the signing of 4-year-old Kendall Geer to the 2020 squad.
"We first met Kendall when he was teeny-tiny, running around in diapers at our games," Levy said. "His mom, Rachel, and his dad, Ed, would bring him to every game, and afterward his favorite thing to do was jump down onto the field and run around with our players. Now that he's a little older and entering kindergarten in another year, we just thought it would be super special to have him be a part of our team."
Geer, a Chapel Hill native, is one of more than 300,000 people in the United States living with Down syndrome, a condition in which a person has an extra copy of chromosome 21. That extra copy changes how the body and brain develop, which can lead to both mental and physical challenges.
Accompanied by his parents and older brother Deuce, Geer joined the women's lacrosse team as its honorary captain during a signing day ceremony on Wednesday.
"Being able to participate in something like this and have our family involved is monumental," said Geer's mother, Rachel. "When I was pregnant with Kendall and found out he would be born with Down syndrome, I just never would have imagined our family would be able to participate in something like this. So, we're very fortunate.
"We're thankful to UNC Athletics and Coach Levy and the women's lacrosse team for including Kendall and for allowing us to show the world that Down syndrome is not scary and that it's a wonderful thing and that our son is worthy."
Rachel said she, Geer and the rest of the family hope to attend the majority of the Tar Heels' home games this spring. Among them is a Down Syndrome Awareness Game against Florida on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day.
That comes after Carolina welcomed members of GiGi's Playhouse Raleigh, an achievement center for individuals with Down syndrome, to one of their practices this past fall.
"We spent an afternoon with a lot of those families and a lot of those kids," Levy said. "They just bring a smile to your face because they're so joyful and they love all the time they get to spend with our program. For us, it's a great thing to see and to understand we need to appreciate all the different things we have the opportunity to do here at Carolina."
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"We first met Kendall when he was teeny-tiny, running around in diapers at our games," Levy said. "His mom, Rachel, and his dad, Ed, would bring him to every game, and afterward his favorite thing to do was jump down onto the field and run around with our players. Now that he's a little older and entering kindergarten in another year, we just thought it would be super special to have him be a part of our team."
Geer, a Chapel Hill native, is one of more than 300,000 people in the United States living with Down syndrome, a condition in which a person has an extra copy of chromosome 21. That extra copy changes how the body and brain develop, which can lead to both mental and physical challenges.
Accompanied by his parents and older brother Deuce, Geer joined the women's lacrosse team as its honorary captain during a signing day ceremony on Wednesday.
"Being able to participate in something like this and have our family involved is monumental," said Geer's mother, Rachel. "When I was pregnant with Kendall and found out he would be born with Down syndrome, I just never would have imagined our family would be able to participate in something like this. So, we're very fortunate.
"We're thankful to UNC Athletics and Coach Levy and the women's lacrosse team for including Kendall and for allowing us to show the world that Down syndrome is not scary and that it's a wonderful thing and that our son is worthy."
Rachel said she, Geer and the rest of the family hope to attend the majority of the Tar Heels' home games this spring. Among them is a Down Syndrome Awareness Game against Florida on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day.
That comes after Carolina welcomed members of GiGi's Playhouse Raleigh, an achievement center for individuals with Down syndrome, to one of their practices this past fall.
"We spent an afternoon with a lot of those families and a lot of those kids," Levy said. "They just bring a smile to your face because they're so joyful and they love all the time they get to spend with our program. For us, it's a great thing to see and to understand we need to appreciate all the different things we have the opportunity to do here at Carolina."
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