Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals recently visited the Boys and Girls Club in Sugar House to commence the Larry H. Miller week of service, a yearly tradition celebrated by the LHM Group to honour the late Larry H. Miller. Justen Glad and RSL legend Nick Rimando, along with club staff, took part in games and activities in an afternoon that was unforgettable for the children.
RSL participated in various activities including cleaning up the club facility and playing sports. Representatives from the Salt Lake Bees also joined in on the fun, with both clubs organizing soccer and baseball-related games for the kids to enjoy.
Attending was RSL Community Relations Coordinator, Rachel Jaclin who helped organize the event. She noted the impact that the Miller family’s ownership has on the club’s ability to facilitate events like these within the community.
“It's really cool to be able to do something with the Boys and Girls Club, especially with our new ownership with the Millers. We realized that it was the Miller week of service and I was just looking at what groups they were involved with and I saw the Boys and Girls Club. I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring everything together,” stated Jaclin.
She continued, “we want to spread our wings to as many organizations as we can. I think we have a really good foundation. We'd love to do this at other locations and spread the clinic spirit everywhere, but we’re also just happy to do it with other organizations in the area, just get our name out there and give them the opportunity to interact with us, our players, and staff.”
Real Salt Lake has joined forces with the Boys and Girls Club on numerous occasions in the past. This experience further emphasizes the initiative that the soccer club has to continue working with valued members and organizations in Utah.
Club director Joni Record of the Sugar House Boys and Girls Club was present at the event and gave a little insight into the organization’s work. “We take ages three to 18. Here we offer a preschool program, a junior's program, and our teen program. We help with after school programming, so we serve kids that need us the most.”
She expressed the joy that these partnerships have given to the kids and how the collaboration has been going on for a number of years. She also mentioned how the interaction between the players and the kids leaves a lasting effect.
“We love community partnerships. We've partnered with RSL in the past and the Larry H. Miller group. Our kids just recently went to the Royals and RSL game and had the best time. We’ve partnered with the Larry H. Miller group for five-plus years and the kids love it. RSL has actually come before and they talk about it all the time. The players have come here and interacted with our kids. We have a great partnership, we love giving them the experience, our kids are just really into soccer. Leslie, our volunteer coordinator was contacted by RSL and we always love having people and I know how much it meant. So when she reached out, I said, yes, we want the players here. She said they'd love to play an activity and we were all about it, we love having them here and just that interaction.”
Even Leo the team mascot made an appearance and participated in the activities with the children, who were thrilled by his entrance. RSL concluded the special occasion by gifting the Club with brand-new soccer balls and mini soccer goals for the kids to use on a daily basis.
The Youth Programs Manager for the Salt Lake Bees was involved in running the baseball activities and shared his opinions on what this week means to the LHM Group.
“Our week of service is in honor of our founder, Larry H. Miller. We go into the community and try to give back, that was kind of a golden rule of our group and of our company that he instilled. One of the things that he talked about was doing good until there's too much good in the world. It turned into a week to go back into the community, practice what we preach and give back to the people that support us in our businesses.”
“You can tell that a lot of the kids may not have access or have the opportunity to play sports or certain privileges like that. Being able to give the opportunity to everyone and grow the game, that's what we're all about. Getting more people involved and making a connection with the kids, showing them that we're here and we care about them and we're here to support.”
This event was just the first in an exciting week of service with RSL, the Utah Royals, and the LHM Group, which will include collaborating with other organizations to find ways to support and give back. RSL will look to continue this tradition with the Boys and Girls Club and now with the resources of the new ownership group, they can take this relationship to new heights with the aim of helping improve the lives of those in need. The goal, to bridge the gap between sport and community.
