March 20, 2006
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Constantly meeting the unending challenges of being one of the nation's elite programs and reaching 10 College Cups definitely qualifies as hard work, but last Sunday, March 12, the Santa Clara University women's soccer team took up a new challenge as they donned hard hats and wielded hammers while participating in a Habitat for Humanity homebuilding project.
Over four hours of work and many, many hammered nails, the Bronco women finished their busy day of building with only a few splinters and sore wrists but more importantly the satisfaction of helping people in need and living out the commitment to community service that sets Santa Clara student-athletes apart.
With sophomore midfielder Brittany Klein heading up the group, fellow teammates Katie Araujo, Marian Dalmy, Kendall Doherty, Tina Estrada, Kelly Giddings, Courtney Lewis, Meagan McCray, Casey Pleas, Danielle Potts, Tiffany Roberts, Julie Ryder, Carrie Schuler, Elyse Shelger and Hayley Siegel all arrived at the construction zone in San Jose at 9 a.m. to begin building.
The women were split into two groups, with Dalmy, Estrada, Roberts and Schuler braving the elevation and working 10 feet above ground. The rest of the team stayed grounded, tasked with putting up vertical boards and cutting out the windows.
Cutting out the windows of the home proved to be an exciting and challenging job as the Bronco contingent was armed with power saws to complete the task. Freshmen Siegel and Potts were put in charge of the power saw and quickly took to their task.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team put their hammering skills to use on each side of the house, learning many different techniques from the project leaders. Klein, Doherty, Giddings and McCray hammered away on one side of the project, while Araujo, Lewis, Pleas, Ryder and Shelger went to work on the other.
Klein and Doherty eventually tried their hands with the power saw, and while Doherty proved to be quite skillful in her work, Klein didn't have the same luck as her saw bent.
By the end of the day, the team looked proudly upon the hard work they had put in and agreed that it had been a fulfilling experience to help those in need.
