The West Michigan Bearings seek to demonstrate excellence on the soccer field while using the platform of sport to engage and serve the Grand Rapids community.
Sport is Impactful
Sports are a passion for so many people. It gives us heroes through our favorite athletes, mentors through our coaches, and friends in our teammates.
The founders of the Bearings reflected on how soccer has influenced their lives, and below are a few examples:
“Soccer is one of the best teachers I ever had. It taught me more about teamwork, perseverance, and discipline than I ever learned in a classroom.”
Levi Haight
“It wasn’t until I found myself in a foreign country, surrounded by people I did not know and did not speak the same language as, that I realized the true impact of soccer. Laughing and juggling the ball, knocking it back and forth with kids I’d never met before, I felt at home hundreds of miles away from any landmark I would have recognized.”
Ryan Woodside
“Some of my best relationships have been formed through this game, and so many of the principles that I choose to live by are principles I learned throughout my playing career.”
Isaac Braak
We also realize that our culture’s love of sports often provides its athletes with larger-than-life status and a platform that we wish to use to positively impact kids and promote a vision of unity, respect, and selflessness. Kids often look up to athletes as role models, so it is critical that athletes recognize the power and influence they have.
Community Sponsorship
We have chosen to partner with the Boys and Girls Club because their mission and vision aligns with ours. The Boys and Girls Club takes a relational approach to enabling and encouraging young people in the community to be successful. We love success. We are chasing success, on and off the field. We want to help others in our community chase success too. And, we share the belief of the Boys and Girls Club that strong relationships are the only way to accomplish this task.
We are still looking for other organization in the Grand Rapids area to partner with. Let us know about the good work you are doing in the community and how we might be able to get involved by connecting with us.