FEATURE
Spartans At Your Service
By Cassie Myers
FEATURE
Spartans At Your Service
By Cassie Myers
San José State athletes have been decorated and celebrated for many reasons over the years: for seven bowl wins, 94 All-Americans and 10 national championships.
But in 2024, there’s only one award that Director of Athletics Jeff Konya calls “the highlight [of the year] for our organization:” the 2023-24 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Community Service Award.
The award, which is given to “exceptional athletics departments that make volunteerism and community service a way of life,” was the culmination of a year of 20,000 hours of community service by Spartan athletes, ranging from toy drives to mentorship programs and more.
“Winning an award like this in intercollegiate athletics speaks to our culture and what we are all about,” says Konya. “And that’s our commitment to leave a mark, leave a legacy, change a life. I am so proud of our student-athletes and staff at SJSU. At the end of the day, that means so much more than a score on a scoreboard.”
“At San José State, community service is one of the pieces that fits into the larger puzzle of being a student-athlete,” agrees Jada Mazury, ’23 Marketing, ’25 MBA. “You know that if you're a student-athlete, you're going to be involved in the community. That's just a part of the culture.”
Mazury, who was a member of the gymnastics team for five years, got deeply involved in community service through two programs: Beyond Sparta, which connects student-athletes to career and community service opportunities as part of its commitment to prepare them for lives outside of athletics, and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which works within athletics to better student-athletes’ lives. Mazury joined SAAC in her second year and worked her way up to SAAC president, where she was also “heavily involved” in their community service efforts.
Like most student-athletes, she’s participated in countless events and initiatives over the years, but her most meaningful moments came from two drives. The first, a sanitary product and sports bra drive for underserved women in the community, donated items to on- and off-campus locations, including the Spartan Clothes Closet, the Spartan Pantry, Next Door Solutions and the Bill Wilson Center. The second, a yearly holiday toy drive, donated over 400 toys in 2023 to the African-American Community Services Agency down the street from campus.
“Winning an award like this in intercollegiate athletics speaks to our culture and what we are all about. And that’s our commitment to leave a mark, leave a legacy, change a life."
— Jeff Konya
Spartan student-athletes helped organize and run several community service events, including a sanitary products drive (left) and a toy drive (right). Photos courtesy of Jada Mazury and Sophie Konieczny.
The sanitary product drive in particular is a passion project for Mazury. For 2023, their goal was to donate 10,000 items, up from the 9,000 they’d donated the previous year — they ended up donating 18,000.
“I've been a lead on that drive ever since its inception,” she says. “I didn't even think we were going to reach our 10,000 goal, and then when the total count came in, that was such a highlight for me. I was so proud of everyone for how much work they put in and how much outreach we all did.”
Mazury adds that SJSU’s emphasis on service is not just athlete-led; it’s also a huge staff effort. She cites Beyond Sparta staff as well as Laura Alexander, senior associate athletic director for student-athlete wellness and leadership development, Konya and others.
“Everyone leading the department has really bought into community service,” she says. “When athletes give back to the community, we know [athletics leadership] will fully support us. It's ingrained in the culture. It comes from the top and it comes from student-athlete leaders like myself. It’s a group effort. I think that's why we're able to do so many hours.”
“One of the primary goals of our student-athlete development program, Beyond Sparta, is to create a culture of volunteerism,” agrees Alexander. “They truly deserve this recognition for their commitment to their community, and we could not be more proud of the hours of service and hard work they’ve put in. As a department, we can only provide the opportunities — they should be credited with putting the hours in to impact their community.”
“Being a woman and growing up in sports has taught me confidence and strength. All girls should have the opportunity to gain those characteristics.”
— Sophie Konieczny
Supporting BAWSI girls
And after Mazury earned her undergraduate degree in spring 2023, others stepped up. Sophie Konieczny, ’25 Forensic Science, is a fellow member of the gymnastics team and will be SAAC president for the '24–'25 school year. Like Mazury, she says she’s “always strived to be in leadership roles and ensure that everything I am a part of is the best it can be.” That led her to SAAC and community service, which she sees as an important duty.
In her previous role as SAAC events chair, Konieczny helped organize logistics for the various drives, including the sanitary products drive and the toy drives. She also participated with many other female Spartans in the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI), a mentorship program that connects female athletes with local girls to teach them leadership and athletic skills.
She’s loved her community service experiences, especially her time in BAWSI. “Being a woman and growing up in sports has taught me confidence and strength,” she explains. “All girls should have the opportunity to gain those characteristics.”
“By living and going to school in a large metropolitan area, we are constantly exposed to the less fortunate, so it’s very rewarding when the whole athletic department can come together and collect sizable donations to make a big impact in our community,” she says. “It makes me grateful and proud to be a part of a school with values that go beyond just ourselves.”
Number of hygiene products donated by Spartan student-athletes
Number of All-American Spartan student-athletes
Number of community service hours completed by Spartan student-athletes over the course of a year
Spartan student-athletes dedicated hundreds of hours to supporting local communities. Photos courtesy of Jada Mazury.
“You see that your voice and the way you act and operate truly matters because the kids are looking up to you.”
— Andrew Jenkins
Beyond Football
Andrew Jenkins, ’21 Political Science, ’23 MS Justice Studies, ’24 MS Interdisciplinary Studies, is a former Spartan football player and passionate advocate for community service. Like Mazury, he’s participated in many different activities for many different organizations, including the Walk A Mile in Her Shoes event — in which men walk around Santana Row in high heels as part of a sexualized violence awareness campaign — Black Lives Matter events, countless drives and a mentorship program for at-risk youth at Robert Sanders Elementary School.
The mentorship program held special memories for him. As a football player, he noticed that the children watched him carefully, and found that to be both a meaningful and a special responsibility.
“You see that your voice and the way you act and operate truly matters because the kids are looking up to you,” he says. “And they'll follow your lead. It means so much to have fun with them and just see that huge smile when they come running to you right when you get on campus. It gave me some good perspective. It helps remind you that these are the things that matter, these kids running up to you, happy to see you because maybe you’re the best thing in their life that day.”
It's clear that for many Spartan student-athletes, this work is all part of a bigger philosophy that combines leadership, service and community.
“If I want to live in a cleaner city, I need to be the same person that's out there picking up trash,” Jenkins says. “If I’m able to help, why wouldn’t I?”
“You have a platform as a student-athlete,” Mazury agrees. “It's up to you if you want to take that platform and use that to give back.” And for her, giving back has been all upside. “Knowing that you're helping someone else who might not be as fortunate as you makes you feel fulfilled. If you can make someone's day a little bit better, you're doing something right.”
Want to learn more?
Check out Beyond Sparta’s community service efforts.
Top photo courtesy of Eve Divinity.
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