GGC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
GIVE BACK EXCELLING IN W
hile the GGC Grizzlies maintain
an impressive, winning record, the
Office of Athletics ensures that scholarathletes excel in the classroom, in the community and in competition.
That is why men’s soccer team play-
ers and coaches spent this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day building an outdoor
classroom at Roberts Elementary School (RES) in Suwanee. The facility will help
building positive personal growth as an im-
Healthcare of Atlanta’s Emory campus.
fostering important relationships within the
the Team Maggie 5-kilometer/10-kilometer
portant part of the college experience while college and community.
“While getting out in the community to
do good work and help others is a win-win
situation for Grizzly Athletics and GGC, it’s really beneficial for our student-athletes,” said Steve DeCou, head coach of the
The softball team helped coordinate
running events in Roswell and the Georgia Race for Autism at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, where players also served
as cheerleaders for runners raising money and awareness for autism.
In addition, softball players partnered
men’s soccer team.
with the Chattahoochee Nature Center to
ence, sustainability and healthy eating.
teers to build the RES outdoor classroom,
ing bird enclosures, clearing leaves and
with GGC Counseling and Psychological
students will grow vegetables, starting this
teach students about elements of life sciMeanwhile, softball players joined
Services and the Student Military Society in a campus pushup challenge that
helped raise public awareness for suicide prevention. In Duluth, women’s soccer
DeCou’s team joined 30 other volun-
which includes garden boxes in which
vegetables grown on school grounds.
from low income areas of the community.
“It was a great project and a tremendous
Living by cleaning apartments, moving
had a great attitude and it was awesome to
up landscaping.
The men’s and women’s tennis players
teamed with Omen Serve Tennis to pro-
will be able to prepare meals with the
service experience for our players.” DeCou
and exchanging appliances, and sprucing
removing holiday decorations.
spring. The school’s cafeteria personnel
team members assisted female sexual
exploitation victims housed at Wellspring
assist with spring preparations by clean-
said. “The guys were fully engaged. They see the finished product.”
The Grizzlies served a broad range of
vide a free instructional clinic for children They also served at a free clinic at Ankle
Biters Tennis, and encouraged children to
donate gifts for the Toys for Tots organization to distribute to needy families during the holidays.
While maintaining their busy schedule
Dr. Darin S. Wilson, director of Athletics,
community needs this year. Baseball play-
of community service and athletic practice
the office that is committed to the National
in the under-8 Gainesville Braves Baseball
achieved a 3.03 cumulative GPA during
established a culture for GGC teams and Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’
(NAIA) Champions of Character principles,
ers provided valuable instruction for youths Club. They also played bingo and other games with children at Children’s
and competition, GGC’s student-athletes
the 2017 fall semester – the highest GPA
for an academic semester since the Office of Athletics was founded in 2012.
Seventy-three of the college’s 131
scholar-athletes were named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for achieving individ-
ual GPAs at 3.0 or higher. Four teams had cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or higher, led by
softball with a 3.33 team GPA this past fall.
18
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Left: Dr. Darin Wilson, director of Athletics, pauses for a photo with the women’s soccer team at the 2017 Athletic Banquet after celebrating the team’s cumulative GPA of 3.35. Several players received certificates honoring them for earning a place on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll during previous semesters.
Ge orgia Gwinn et t C ollege
