Founded in Boston, Team Impact is a remarkable national nonprofit that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college athletic teams.
By Danna Lorch
Over the past couple of seasons, 13-year-old Braxton, the youngest “member” of the Harvard Men’s Lacrosse Team, could often be found on the field, sporting a Harvard beanie and cheering enthusiastically during home games.
Braxton, who lives with spina bifida, was in Boston to receive treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital when he was officially welcomed to the Harvard team by Head Coach Gerry Byrne. The announcement came as part of a 2020 signing day to launch an incredible new match between Harvard University and Team IMPACT, a Massachusetts-based organization. This moment for the child is very similar to a press conference announcing a new athlete onto the team.
Founded in Boston in 2011, Team IMPACT emphasizes camaraderie and the energy of sports teams to provide children and their families with joy and connection. “If you know anyone who has gone through a hard time, you’ll hear that what got them through it was having a group behind them, rooting for them and keeping them hopeful,” says Ryan Irwin, Regional Executive Director of the Northeast.
The organization began by working with local hospitals to match children facing serious illness and/or disability with Northeast college sports teams. “We are proud to have built the blueprint for our organization right here in Boston,” says Irwin.
Team IMPACT now reaches children across the country, partnering with more than 3,000 teams at over 750 schools, in all 50 states, and the organization is rapidly growing. Through the program, each participating child has the opportunity to join a university athletic team for two years. They are assigned a child life specialist case manager who helps ensure that everyone involved, child, family, and student athletes, have a positive experience. It becomes a chance for both child and team members to grow, have fun, score goals, runs, and points, and ultimately build relationships that last a lifetime.
The organization continues to collaborate with world-renowned medical institutions to sign kids onto teams at dozens of colleges and universities in the region. Since Team Impact began, more than 28,000 student-athletes on teams from almost 100 campuses throughout New England have participated. These include members of teams from Boston College, Tufts University, Endicott College, Brown University, College of the Holy Cross, Southern New Hampshire University, Bowdoin College, the University of Connecticut, the University of Vermont, and Harvard, where Braxton made an indelible impact on his older teammates.
Owen Gaffney, a junior at Harvard and a midfielder on the Men’s Lacrosse team, says he really got to know Braxton well during his stint with the team. “Braxton was one hundred percent a member of our team and became a great friend of ours, too,” says Gaffney. “He was a joy to have around, and we were extremely grateful for his presence.”
For Gaffney, whose younger brother, Aiden, tragically passed away from a health condition at the age of six, being part of Team IMPACT feels personal. “My family has been involved with the special needs community for as long as I can remember, he says. “Seeing Braxton’s smile on signing day struck a chord with me, and it’s been a wonderful experience fostering a relationship with him.”
Gaffney’s teammate and fellow midfielder, Max Ewald, a junior at Harvard, jumped at the chance to welcome Braxton to the team. “I can’t imagine why any team wouldn’t want to get involved with Team IMPACT,” Ewald says. “You get the chance to play a critical role in helping to transform a child’s life.”
Ewald says that over the years, he and his teammates relished hosting Braxton for dorm hangouts, taking him out on the Charles River kayaking, challenging him to games of squash, and visiting the Museum of Science, where the young aspiring paleontologist could spend hours sharing dinosaur facts with his older teammates.
Braxton’s mom, Karen, first heard about Team IMPACT from volunteers at Boston Children’s Hospital. She filled out an application form and received a call just a few weeks later from the organization with some exciting news:
“They said Harvard is looking for a player,” she remembers with a laugh. And just like that, their Team IMPACT journey began. “It can be really lonely for Braxton, but it meant everything to him, and to me, that he was on this team with these young men who are such amazing role models. The guys really do feel like family to us at this point.”
Although Braxton’s family has moved back home to Illinois, the team keeps up with him virtually, sharing holiday parties over Zoom and sending encouraging voice messages or videos of them dancing to their favorite songs. Gaffney and Ewald agree that they’ve been changed forever by their friendship with their teammate Braxton. “This wasn’t an obligation; this was very much a privilege,” Gaffney explains.
Irwin says that Team IMPACT is always seeking new collegiate athletic teams and medical institutions to participate in their program and help get more kids into the game. Most importantly, Team IMPACT welcomes families who want to be matched with a team and community that will be in their corner, cheering their child on with unbridled joy.
