The Patriots varsity soccer team beat John Carroll Catholic 3-1 at Waldrop Stadium on April 4, but the real winners of the night were the cats and dogs.
Homewood and John Carroll’s teams encouraged their fans to bring blankets, food, treats, toys and other donations for the Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS).
Matt Kirkpatrick, John Carroll’s coach, came up with the idea several years ago as a way to do something positive while taking advantage of the GBHS location at 300 Snow Drive. That puts it about 150 yards down the road from Homewood’s Waldrop stadium and if you kicked a soccer ball over the fence at John Carroll, there’s a decent chance it’d bounce down the hill into the Humane Society’s parking lot.
This is the fourth year of the philanthropic tradition with the “Lakeshore Derby” game, which has led to an increased interest in giving back to the community.
Homewood boys’ coach Julian Kersh agrees that the tradition is a perfect medley of sports and philanthropy, given the facility is just down the street from the newly renovated Waldrop Stadium.
“It feels like a no-brainer,” Kersh said. “Who doesn’t love the Humane Society? It makes perfect sense to have our two fan bases provide a little love for them.”
While the primary goal is to provide the GBHS with anything they can use, schools have found creative ways to tweak the format and incentivize students to give. In recent years the drive has been a competition alongside the game to encourage the longstanding friendly rivalry. This year, Homewood students earned class points from the SGA for their donations.
Guests from the Homewood Soccer Club were invited to the game and cheered for players on the sidelines, ultimately increasing visibility of the drive.
“I think they’re happy to receive anything,” Kersh said. “So we always hope that if you’ve got the time and inclination to buy a bag of dog food or bring in some treats or toys or towels, then people will do it to support such a good organization.”
GBHS Social Media and Marketing manager Savannah Caswell believes that partnering with local organizations for outreach drives are crucial ways to bring communities together.
“We love donation drives like these, especially for sporting events,” Caswell said. “It makes things easier because if someone is not looking for a cat or dog or to volunteer, [the drive] kind of brings GBHS to something that they are going to.”
When large quantities of donations are brought in from drives, the nonprofit distributes goods to different departments to ensure the most impact. Homes that agree to foster animals may receive an allotment of food, while the veterinary department receives blankets, and the animals on-location receive toys for enrichment. In recent years, the GBHS has reached full capacity of the number of animals they care for, heightening the need for volunteers and charitable giving.
“We are so overrun with cats, kittens, dogs, puppies because people aren’t spaying and neutering their animals,” Caswell said. “It’s not just because you want a dog because you think it’s fluffy and cute, it’s more about your community. If you are a part of this community and you care about people as we do then that is a good reason to donate.”
The visiting Cavaliers opened the scoring through sophomore Chris Lopez who smashed a loose ball into the net off a ball knocked down to the top of the penalty area from a long free kick. Homewood quickly responded through senior Drew Giardina who picked up a quick ball over the top from Charley Chewning before coolly slotting past the goalkeeper with his left foot.
Minutes later, it was Giardina providing for Chewning, who picked up a pass at the top of the penalty area before cutting onto his left and hitting the ball low into the corner.
The Patriots got their insurance goal in the second half when sophomore Andy Platt raced through on goal and smashed the ball past the goalkeeper who got a strong hand to the shot, but was unable to keep it out.
With the win Homewood improved to 18-2 on the season as they head into the final regular season games.
