Rock Spring boy happy to sign with UTC Cross Country team
Sitting in his mother’s lap with his newly gifted Chattanooga ball cap with its large, gold Power “C” pulled tightly over his eyes, seven-year-old Levi Smith became the newest member of the Mocs’ cross country and track and field teams this past Tuesday at Mckenzie Arena.
“This experience is important to us,” Levi’s mother Katie Smith said to the assembled crowd. “For him to be able to tell everybody that ‘I go to UTC and I’m part of the cross country team,’ that’s just a dream come true.
“A few years ago when he was diagnosed, that was something that was taken from us. Programs like Team IMPACT are giving back to us what we thought we were never going to have.”
Chattanooga Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Mark Wharton was on hand to welcome Levi and placed the ball cap on his head while he was surrounded by his new teammates who attended the press conference so he would be ready when he took center stage.
“The type of kids we recruit are high caliber and community-engaged and this is what we have with Levi,” Wharton declared. “We’re excited to have him and our partnership with Team IMPACT.”
Katie Smith said the family found out about Team IMPACT through a friend from church. She said the friend’s daughter was part of Team IMPACT, using the hashtag on Instagram. She then wrote to find out what it was and how to get involved and it didn’t take long to get signed up.
“I heard from them maybe a week later,” Katie said. “They called me and did an over-thephone interview. They said they needed to do a search in the area for a team that could devote the time and do what we’re doing here.”
About four months later they received the call that Levi was being recruited by the Chattanooga cross country and track and field teams.
“We got the call about a month ago,” she explained.
Since then, Levi has met the Mocs, attended practices and cheered his new teammates to a successful outing at the recent Berry College Invitational in Rome, Ga.
The finish line was not his favorite spot however.
“It was a long walk,” he said. So they cheered the team from the side.
“He’s been to a couple of practices. He came to a meet. Just a great teammate,” Mocs’ head coach Andy Meyer said of his new signee. “The kids really like having him around. It adds a great atmosphere to the team and Levi and his family have just been great.”
In 2013, Levi was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His sister Madison has been a great supporter for her brother and it does not go unnoticed.
“The team has been so good, not only with Levi, but with my daughter as well,” Katie continued. “I think playing the part of a sister of a chronically or terminally ill child is probably the hardest. She takes a back seat to him a lot, but they have made sure to incorporate her just as much as him.”
In fact, Madison and their cousin Tegan were both sitting beside Levi on the stage during his “Draft Day” celebration, smiling for the cameras.
“We’re looking forward to establishing this relationship with him,” Meyer added. “I have a feeling they are probably going to teach us a lot more than we can ever give them.”
Levi is the third Team Impact member to join the Mocs. The men’s basketball teammate P.J. Fox Tolbert was graduated out last year at the Scrappy’s, while Ben Foster, a Team Impact member of Mocs’ football, attended last Tuesday’s “Draft Day” celebration.