The Big Spur
On the surface, Thursday evening was just another day at the summer office for the South Carolina football team.
Despite being moved in-doors due to the daily rain that has swept the Columbia area as of late, the Gamecocks went to work at the in-door practice facility giving media and fans a glimpse of the workouts the team participates in on a near daily basis in the summer as they get ready for a new season.
There were weighted sled races, tug-of-war matches, tire tosses and many other competitive activities used to test the players' strength and agility, but this specific day was about something much more.
The South Carolina football team became the first SEC program to hold a Lift For Life event as part of the Uplifting Athletes program.
"I think the most important thing was doing something we could to together that was positive," said fullbackJordan Diaz who is one of the two captains of the Gamecocks' chapter. "We could bring all the players together. We've never really had anything like this in the past before and it's never been done in the SEC before, so it's something we thought it was positive to bring."
Uplifting Athletes is designed to raise awareness and money for rare diseases, which by definition is a disease that that affects less than 200,000 Americans at any given time.
South Carolina running back Devin Potter has a 18-year-old cousin who is battling Pelizaeus Merzbacher, which is described as a central nervous system disorder in which coordination, motor abilities and intellectual function are delayed to various extents, by the Gamecocks' Uplifting Athletes website.
"It was great," Potter said of the near 100 percent turnout from his teammates. "He told us it was strictly voluntary, we didn't have to be out here, and just to see pretty much all the team out here, it was awesome."
South Carolina is one of 21 student-athlete led chapters nationwide that is part of the Uplifting Athletes family of college football teams that have joined the fight against rare diseases.
"It was fun," Diaz said. "We usually do different competitions and things like that, but adding an incentive to it and the motivation for doing it for a greater cause it was more fun than previous times and the guys got excited for it, so that was cool."
Diaz and fullback Connor McLaurin head up the Gamecocks' chapter. Strength coach Joe Connolly came to the two players with the idea.
For more on this story, go to http://southcarolina.247sports.com/Article/Gamecocks-work-out-for-great-cause-138753
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