The NCAA and Helper Helper are looking for member schools to battle it out — not on the field or court, but in the community service arena.
The NCAAandHelper Helper, a volunteer management and tracking platform, launched the NCAA Community Service Competition 11 years ago to recognize student-athletes and schools who give back to their communities.
The 2023 challenge runs Sept. 15-Dec. 15, andregistration is now openfor schools. The deadline is Sept. 1 to opt in.
"NCAA student-athletes and athletic staffs do so many wonderful things in their respective communities every year," said Victor Hill, associate director of the NCAA office of inclusion, education and community engagement. "They spend thousands of collective hours volunteering to help hundreds of worthy causes.
"We enjoy the opportunity to tap into their competitive spirits with the community service competition as a way to highlight the amazing work they are doing. Hopefully we'll get more athletic departments to enter the competition and share how they are making a difference in their communities."
The schools that participated in 2022's challenge logged 218,594 hours, more than double 2021's total. The estimated economic impact of those service hours, per Independent Sector's 2022 calculation of the national value of a volunteer hour, was $6.5 million.
After such remarkable efforts last year, NCAA and Helper Helper are looking to continue building on the momentum.
"We have loved workingwith the NCAA to recognize athletic departments and student-athletes thatgo above and beyond for their surrounding communities," said Krista Clement, CEO and founder of Helper Helper and a former Michigan women's basketball student-athlete. "Helper Helper was built because we wanted to make it easier for student-athletes to get out in their communities — something so many student-athletes enjoy and participate in when the opportunities to volunteer are easy to access on their phones. The competition is truly a win-win-win-win, and we'd love for all schools to get involved!"
It's easy for schools to get involved and usethe programto track community service efforts. There's an app for iOS and Android users that allows student-athletes and administrators to validate attendance, use QR codes for check-ins and upload photos. Helper Helper's platform is designed so that schools of any size can use the application and customize it with their logos and colors.
"The Helper Helper app was instrumental in tracking our community engagement," saidShirelleJackson, executive associate athletics director at Miami (Florida)."We have used the app for several years now, which allows us to clearly share and demonstrate our consistency in outreach. The app provides us with the ability to create reports to showcase trends with who volunteers and where our student-athletes serve. The reporting component can assist with end-of-year reports, justification for funding and highlighting where and when our student-athletes serve. Helper Helper has been a game changer for our office of student-athlete development and student-athlete population."
Miami won 2022's Division I award with 100% of its 450 student-athletes participating in at least one community service activity. For the Hurricanes, who also won the award in 2018, it's all about giving back.
"It's wonderful to see how receptive our student-athletes are to the Hurricanes nonmandatory service program," Jackson said. "We see the pride they have by the number of service events our athletic teams volunteer for on a daily basis. We have created a culture of giving at the University of Miami, which has benefited both our student-athletes and surrounding communities."
Division II's Georgian Court has won the competition three times — in 2022, 2018 and 2017. The Lion student-athletes averaged 20 hours of community service each in 2022.
"Servant leadership is one of our core values here at Georgian Court University, so it truly is engrained in this athletic department," said Dan Sempkowski, director of athletics. "We take great pride in not only the amount of hours but the actual impact we have had on those who benefit from our service.
Oswego State won Division III honors in 2022 and totaled nearly 2,400 hours of community service as an athletics department.
"Serving our community is embedded in who we are as Lakers," said Wendy McManus, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of intercollegiate athletics at SUNY Oswego. "The willingnessof our student-athletes to give back when their schedules are packed with academics and athletics shows how much they care. Our student-athletes have great pride in our community, as our community has in our student-athletes."
For any additional questions,contactKrista Clement atKrista@helperhelper.comor visit theHelper Helper website.
