Texas A&M football players host clinic for area foster kids Sunday

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - About a dozen Texas A&M football players hosted a football clinic for local foster kids Sunday afternoon.

The team partnered with a number of community organizations to make the event possible. The players came out to run drills and teach the basics of football, such as passing, catching, and agility, to roughly 50 kids who have been in the foster care system.

Joe Mawad is a former Aggie football player who helped organize it. He says they wanted to make an impact on their community, and that foster care is an important issue to the team.

“I think that our team and most people in athletics come from a diverse set of backgrounds and just know that the one thing that brought us all together was football. The same thing can be said for these foster kids we’re working with today,” Mawad said. “I remember when I was a kid going to these kind of events with professional teams how much of a difference it made, how awesome it was, and I know this would do the same for our local community.”

Mawad’s Company BAFA, By Aggie Football Athletes, partnered with BCS Together and other community organizations to hold the clinic at Central Church in College Station. He says Aggie football wouldn’t be anything without its supporters who are the best fans in the entire country.

“Our fans are literally everything, and that’s what makes Texas A&M Texas A&M. The 12th Man is bar none the absolute best,” Mawad said. “We wouldn’t have the fancy facilities, the greatest stadium, we wouldn’t have anything that we get to use on a daily basis if it weren’t for our fans. It’s only right we give back to our local community for it.”

Mawad says he started his company to solve the problem of how college athletes can use their name, image, and likeness value to profit for themselves while also making an impact on their community. Mawad says the latest court rulings now allow them to sponsor and promote different businesses, organizations, and causes they were unable to before.

“We put this thing together so we can find business sponsorships and marketing deals on a team or group level basis while also making a direct impact on our community,” Mawad said. “My unique perspective of being a business owner while being a college athlete let me see how business works and how athletes work. I also noticed that there was no one in that same position. You had people who understood the business side and marketed all day, and you had the athletes who were just focusing on playbooks every day.”

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