Northeastern University Athletics | Football | Huskies participate in Walk Now for Autism

Huskies participate in Walk Now for Autism
Oct. 19, 2009
Boston, Mass.

Members of the football team participated in the Walk Now for Autism event Sunday, Oct. 18 at Suffolk Downs in East Boston. This is the fifth year that football team members have participated.

Players braved the rain to take part in the charity walk, which raised more than $760,000 for the ongoing study of autism. Walk Now for Autism holds annual events in major cities across the country to raise awareness and funds.

Northeastern football’s history with the Walk Now for autism foundation comes from the team’s desire to help in the community, said running backs coach Rapheal Dowdye. Bill Sansone, a 1991 NU graduate and former football player, has a daughter with autism.

“Bill e-mailed us four years ago about it, and we’ve been doing it ever since,” said Dowdye.

According to Dowdye, Sansone also likes to bring his daughter to some football practices, and her presence has a powerful impact on the players.

The invitation was extended this year to other student-athletes for the first time this year. Taryn Provencher, assistant director of compliance and student-athlete welfare, says that she’s seen how important it is to the football team and wanted all the student-athletes at Northeastern to have a chance to participate.

“The last four years they’ve done it and it’s been great, and we wanted to jump on,” said Provencher. “Hopefully in the years to come, we can get a lot more people to come. The football guys are really passionate about it, and it’s exciting to be there with them.”

Dowdye and the rest of the football team work hand-in-hand with the event organizers to make sure that the team can make an appearance.

Ron Conway, a senior punter and wide receiver on the field and the vice president of Northeastern’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, has attended the event in the past and helped get teammates excited for this year’s walk.

“We just try to get a group of guys together to go over and support the people who are walking to raise money,” Conway said.

“Every once in a while they’ll ask us to work at the booths they have set up, with food or activities,” he added, “but it’s usually about cheering people on and making everything a positive environment. We’ll make a little tunnel at the entrance or the finish and everyone will cheer. It’s a lot of fun.”

Conway says one of the difficulties of helping get people to the walk is convincing freshmen that it’s a good cause. But once they come out, Conway said, everybody is willing to come back for more.

“You’ve really got to work on those freshmen,” Conway said. “But they see how good it is. It makes them come back every year.”



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