A group of Ball State University athletes signed autographs for, played games with and discussed sports with about 40 children from local schools Wednesday.
College Mentors for Kids has 60 Ball State students who mentor 40 to 60 students from the Muncie area.
Alayna Huffman, junior social studies education major and one of the vice presidents for the program, said showing young students what participating in collegiate sports is like was positive for everyone.
The program started in 1995 at Indiana University, Huffman said, and Ball State's chapter started in 2001. More than 15 chapters throughout Illinois and Indiana have programs in which young students interact with college athletes.
"All the kids are elementary school students," Huffman said. "It's nice for them to have a big buddy to look up to and to have someone to spend time with every week."
Football player Davyd Jones, sophomore business major, said he enjoyed spending time with children.
"Whoever came up with this program had a good idea," Jones said. "We're helping the kids out, showing what they can be doing and [providing] them with leadership."
Lacrosse player Aimee Dietz, sophomore physical and health education major, said she found out about the program from a friend and she took part in it for the experience. She hopes to be a teacher and a coach after she graduates, she said, so it was good practice.
"I always liked working with little kids," Dietz said. "When I was in high school, we always helped out at basketball camps for little kids, which was always fun."
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