Eighth Grader Featured in Cleveland Jewish News

Read on to find out how middle schooler Julia Costantini turned her bat mitzvah into a way to give back to the community. Mitzvah Girls SCORE With Soccer Donations BY: ELLEN SCHUR BROWN, Editor, Family Section, Cleveland Jewish News Some girls really love soccer. Julia Costantini loves it so much she wants everyone to be able to play. Julia has played since second grade, and she`s now on two premier teams, Shaker Travel and Shaker Premier Football Club. Last season, she learned about America SCORES Cleveland (ASC), an intensive after-school program for at-risk children ages 8-12. Julia stepped in as a volunteer soccer referee for their games. \"I was looking for something to do for my bat mitzvah,\" says Julia, who attends Hawken School and plays flute. \"It`s nice to watch other kids enjoying themselves. I know I helped them be able to play.\" At first, she was surprised that some of the kids had never played soccer before. She`s also seen them improve with practice and coaching. Off the field, the inner-city youngsters in ASC improve their literacy skills by writing poetry. Soccer director Matthew Williams points out that ASC can only take 16 boys and 16 girls at each school, but many more children would like to join. Julia asked guests invited to her May 2007 bat mitzvah at Congregation Shaarey Tikvah to make a donation in her name to SCORES. She also added a note in her invitation describing the organization. She donated equipment and $1,500 to SCORES. Julia recommends SCORES as a great mitzvah project for other young volunteers who want to learn to be soccer referees. She convinced two friends, Elana Curry and Alexandra Sobisch, to get involved, as well as their moms, who shared in the driving to the field at E. 79th St. Elana and Alexandra, Shaker Heights Middle School students, asked their bat mitzvah guests and friends from Shaker Heights Youth Soccer to round up cleats, balls and other equipment for the young teams. Elana, who plays soccer and lacrosse and studies piano, talked about her mitzvah project in her speech at her June 2 ceremony at Kol HaLev. Helping kids who \"don`t have that much\" with soccer equipment meant a lot to Elana, who also donated one-third of her bat mitzvah money to the homeless. Alexandra particularly enjoyed watching the new players respond to the game. She explains that she and the referees get more involved in the SCORES games, cheering and coaching the players. Alexandra also plans to donate some of the money from her October 2007 bat mitzvah to help the organization, and she`s hoping to arrange her schedule so she`ll have time to continue volunteering. For information about a mitzvah project for SCORE, contact Matthew Williams at 216-589-0921.