SE: Wildcats Continue to Show Commitment to Community, Local Big Brothers Big Sisters Program
Apr 24, 2018 | Sports Extra, Athletics, Evans Student-Athlete Success Program
By Corbin McGuire
As Tara Claussen stood on midfield at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Sunday afternoon, she took in cheerful sights wherever she looked.
To her left was K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson playing catch with a young boy. To her right, senior safety Denzel Goolsby was signing autographs for a group of children. Past him, K-State volleyball's Gloria Mutiri was running routes for a boy. Behind Claussen, K-State soccer's Brooke Ramos was taking a picture with another child.
Claussen, area manager for Riley County's Big Brothers Big Sisters office, was beyond pleased with the turnout for Sunday's event at the Vanier Family Football Complex.
"It's pretty heartwarming," Claussen said of the "Big Day on Campus" event, held in conjunction with the Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows from the School of Leadership Studies.
To help add some excitement to the event, Marcia Hornung, coordinator of partnerships for the School of Leadership Studies, reached out to K-State head coach Bill Snyder to see if one or two players could come. She was taken back when Snyder told her that 35 players would be there, the day after their Purple/White Spring Game.
"I think that's just kind of the atmosphere that Coach Snyder has built here. We talk about things that are a lot more important than just the game itself," Goolsby said. "He just built an atmosphere where football is a game but there's also more important things, and we know that. There's life outside of that, so we just try to do what we can off the field to make a difference in people's lives."
Sunday was an opportunity to do so, with volleyball, track and soccer among the other sports represented by K-State. The event included a speech from Snyder, a tour of the Vanier Family Football Complex and more than an hour's worth of time to play around on the field.
"It was a lot of fun interacting with the younger kids. It was good to get to know them," Mutiri, in her first semester with K-State volleyball, said. "This isn't a regular thing that happens all the time, so to get to talk to them and hear their perspective on college sports is really cool. Most of them are wanting to come up to K-State, play sports, and that's so fun to talk to them and tell them stuff that goes on."
Overall, the event served two purposes.
First, it allowed current Big/Little matches to see and experience something new together. Second, it provided student-athletes, Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows and other adults the chance to be a Big for a day with some of the children still on the waitlist for a permanent match, with the hope of shortening that list.
Claussen said the event was also another step toward raising the community's awareness of BBBS and its needs, which currently includes more than 40 children on the waitlist for a match.
It was also one more example, she said, of K-State student-athletes' commitment to being involved in the community. More than a handful of current and former Wildcats are involved with the BBBS program already.
"They've been awesome mentors. I just can't say enough about them," Claussen said. "As an adult, as a member of the community, you recognize how busy they already are with their academic commitments, their athletic commitments, and then to be able to carve out that special time to make a difference in somebody else's life, it's pretty indescribable."
Goolsby is one of them. He has been paired up with his Little, Shannon, for about two years and said it's been an "incredible experience" so far.
"Just being able to see him grow, I think that's been the best part, and at the same time seeing how much I've grown with him. We're kind of on that journey together and I know he's gained a lot more confidence, definitely gotten out of his shell a lot more and is just more comfortable talking to other people," Goolsby said. "It's cool being able to see him grow up in front of me, and just learning things together at the same time, having those first-time memories. He was with me when he caught his first fish, stuff like that. It's kind of cool having those types of things. It's been a lot of fun."
Thompson, partly inspired by Goolsby to get involved with BBBS, recently came up on his one-year anniversary of being matched with his Little, Makai. He called the 12-plus months a "life changing experience."
"Makai and I have a really special relationship and we've only been paired together for a year," Thompson said. "I feel like that kid could talk to me about anything. I could talk to him about anything. He's in fifth grade and our age difference is quite a bit, but you can definitely feel the special bond that we've created over the past year. It's impacted my life tremendously."
As Tara Claussen stood on midfield at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Sunday afternoon, she took in cheerful sights wherever she looked.
To her left was K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson playing catch with a young boy. To her right, senior safety Denzel Goolsby was signing autographs for a group of children. Past him, K-State volleyball's Gloria Mutiri was running routes for a boy. Behind Claussen, K-State soccer's Brooke Ramos was taking a picture with another child.
Claussen, area manager for Riley County's Big Brothers Big Sisters office, was beyond pleased with the turnout for Sunday's event at the Vanier Family Football Complex.
"It's pretty heartwarming," Claussen said of the "Big Day on Campus" event, held in conjunction with the Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows from the School of Leadership Studies.
To help add some excitement to the event, Marcia Hornung, coordinator of partnerships for the School of Leadership Studies, reached out to K-State head coach Bill Snyder to see if one or two players could come. She was taken back when Snyder told her that 35 players would be there, the day after their Purple/White Spring Game.
"I think that's just kind of the atmosphere that Coach Snyder has built here. We talk about things that are a lot more important than just the game itself," Goolsby said. "He just built an atmosphere where football is a game but there's also more important things, and we know that. There's life outside of that, so we just try to do what we can off the field to make a difference in people's lives."
Sunday was an opportunity to do so, with volleyball, track and soccer among the other sports represented by K-State. The event included a speech from Snyder, a tour of the Vanier Family Football Complex and more than an hour's worth of time to play around on the field.
"It was a lot of fun interacting with the younger kids. It was good to get to know them," Mutiri, in her first semester with K-State volleyball, said. "This isn't a regular thing that happens all the time, so to get to talk to them and hear their perspective on college sports is really cool. Most of them are wanting to come up to K-State, play sports, and that's so fun to talk to them and tell them stuff that goes on."
"Too see their faces light up, it's worth a millon dollars." - #KStateFB's Skylar Thompson
— K-State Athletics (@kstatesports) April 23, 2018
K-State Athletics and @KStateSSLS were honored to host "Big Day On Campus" with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas on Sunday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/SpR3okFGpj
Overall, the event served two purposes.
First, it allowed current Big/Little matches to see and experience something new together. Second, it provided student-athletes, Snyder Leadership Legacy Fellows and other adults the chance to be a Big for a day with some of the children still on the waitlist for a permanent match, with the hope of shortening that list.
Claussen said the event was also another step toward raising the community's awareness of BBBS and its needs, which currently includes more than 40 children on the waitlist for a match.
It was also one more example, she said, of K-State student-athletes' commitment to being involved in the community. More than a handful of current and former Wildcats are involved with the BBBS program already.
"They've been awesome mentors. I just can't say enough about them," Claussen said. "As an adult, as a member of the community, you recognize how busy they already are with their academic commitments, their athletic commitments, and then to be able to carve out that special time to make a difference in somebody else's life, it's pretty indescribable."
Goolsby is one of them. He has been paired up with his Little, Shannon, for about two years and said it's been an "incredible experience" so far.
"Just being able to see him grow, I think that's been the best part, and at the same time seeing how much I've grown with him. We're kind of on that journey together and I know he's gained a lot more confidence, definitely gotten out of his shell a lot more and is just more comfortable talking to other people," Goolsby said. "It's cool being able to see him grow up in front of me, and just learning things together at the same time, having those first-time memories. He was with me when he caught his first fish, stuff like that. It's kind of cool having those types of things. It's been a lot of fun."
Special day visiting with Big Brother Big Sisters of Riley County and @KStateSSLS Bill Snyder Leadership Fellows at BSFS today! pic.twitter.com/v7ghZAtda7
— K-State Athletics (@kstatesports) April 22, 2018
Thompson, partly inspired by Goolsby to get involved with BBBS, recently came up on his one-year anniversary of being matched with his Little, Makai. He called the 12-plus months a "life changing experience."
"Makai and I have a really special relationship and we've only been paired together for a year," Thompson said. "I feel like that kid could talk to me about anything. I could talk to him about anything. He's in fifth grade and our age difference is quite a bit, but you can definitely feel the special bond that we've created over the past year. It's impacted my life tremendously."
K-State Football | Stanton Weber Press Conference - Feb. 12, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Football | Thad Ward Press Conference - Feb. 12, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Game Replay vs Cincinnati - February 11, 2026
Thursday, February 12
K-State Men's Basketball | Coach Tang Press Conference vs Cincinnati
Thursday, February 12
