County-supported soccer clinic makes an impact

MT. PLEASANT — Henry County Board of Supervisors meet weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays to discuss various county business, but this last Thursday, the conversation held a little more heart than the average reviewing of numbers and facts.

Supervisor Marc Lindeen reported on a subcommittee with HACAP.

According to Lindeen, the subcommittee meeting determined that DHS would not offer additional funds and leftover funds would simply be rolled over.

Lindeen felt confident that, that would provide sufficient moneys to fund all that needed funding in the next year or two.

During this subcommittee meeting a progress report was given about the county’s funding of a program given from Louisa County called “Soccer for Success.”

“We questioned whether we [the county] should pay for a soccer clinic for kids after school,” Lindeen said. “Since we didn’t have anything like that, we decided we would go ahead and fund it because it wasn’t too much money, honestly.”

Lindeen probed the committee for additional information and asked if they could give him a more personal look into the program with stories. He then retold two short stories to the board.

The adults in the program spent time trying to figure out why one young boy had many lumps in his pocket.

“He was carrying food home to rest of his family, and they didn’t have enough money,” he said. “They didn’t have enough money for food, and he felt the least he could do was bring food back with him.”

Another story followed, about an attentive coach within the program.

“The soccer coach realized with another young man that there was a problem, and he started talking to him and found out he was suicidal,” Lindeen said. “So, they were able to connect him with counseling and very well could have saved his life because of that.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com