Kaiden Boyer, a rugby player from Berks County Pennsylvania, accomplished something great. In fact, he accomplished something all athletes strive for; the opportunity to represent their country by playing the sport they love.
Kaiden was selected to play for the prestigious North American Lions, a U16 rugby team that will be playing in the United World Games in Austria and Heidelberg 7s in Germany this June. This is quite an honor for Kaiden as the 12 players selected for the Lions represent some of the best talent in the US and Canada.
As 1 of 5 children being raised by a single mother, Kaiden faced the challenge of paying for this European rugby tour. Thankfully his community and local rugby team helped raise some of the costs but were unfortunately still short of the $4,300 goal which would cover travel expenses, hotels, food, and team uniform.
Ballers & Bookworms was approached by Kaiden's school nurse, asking if we would be willing to help him with the remaining cost of the trip overseas. After hearing about how hardworking Kaiden is on and off the field, we were honored to assist in his journey.
Last weekend, our president Tyler Kazio drove to Pennsylvania to meet Kaiden, his family, and his coach to hand deliver a check for over $1,500. Now Kaiden is set to compete on the international level. But the greatness of that Saturday morning doesn't end there!
While visiting, Tyler dialed up Blaine Scully, a former USA Eagle captain. Blaine gave Kaiden some words of encouragement and swapped phone numbers to schedule a rugby training session.
Ballers & Bookworms isn't only about tangible resources, but the connections and lifelong memories we hope to make for student-athletes.
Check out this video to watch Kaiden's reaction to the ultimate surprise.
We also want to thank Berks County Rugby Football Club head coach Greg Stelluti for organizing the time for us to meet and Maria Plaksin, Kaiden’s middle school nurse and aunt to our co-founder Julian Viera, who shared Kaiden's story with us.
If you want to help more student-athletes like Kaiden, please consider a donation so we can continue to make an impact.