Dominic Breidenbach, a senior Men’s Soccer student-athlete and Finance, Insurance and Real Estate major in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics (FCBE), recently received the honor of being named to the Allstate NACDA Good Works Team, which recognizes and honors student-athletes who demonstrate levels of volunteerism and civic engagement that go above and beyond their success and achievements in the classroom and in sport.
Breidenbach is one of the 20 athletes nationally recognized across the NCAA for his work in the community.
“I feel super blessed and grateful that Destin Gilbert, director of Student-Athlete Development, nominated me for this award and reached out to me, it really means a lot. He’s been in my corner ever since I got here. He’s definitely encouraged me to keep getting out into the community and has given me a larger role with Memphis SAAC [Student-Athlete Advisory Committee], where I’m now overseeing and communicating all the community service events to the whole athletic department,” Breidenbach said.
Memphis SAAC is made up of student-athletes who provide insight into the student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity and creating a positive student-athlete experience.
“Dom has been a leader in the Memphis community. His passion and leadership have contributed to a 200% increase in community service hours for his team, and his voice as the SAAC Chair for Community Service has elevated the department to a new high. With Dom leading our efforts, I believe we can reach our goals for this year and beyond,” Gilbert said.
“We challenged the team starting last Fall in terms of Men’s Soccer contributing more toward community service and Dominic took that challenge head on. He was the one who was always up to the task, and it included countless opportunities that if he was able to contribute, his hand would be the first to go up. Student-athletes have very busy schedules to begin with and to be fair our whole team stepped up to a whole new level in terms of volunteering and it started with Dominic,” said Tony McManus, Men’s Soccer associate head coach.
University of Memphis Athletics aims to achieve 5,000 community service hours for the academic year, with current totals at 890 hours.
Breidenbach said his passion for volunteering started at a young age. The Lebanon, Ohio native would often volunteer with his family and with his classmates at Archbishop Moeller High School.
“I’ve got really good parents that I’m really grateful for, and we would always volunteer together as a family. My mom would make it a habit for us a couple of times a year to volunteer at a food bank or shelter,” Breidenbach said. “And then in high school it got instilled in me even more. I went to an all-boys high school and when you go volunteer, you’re really getting to spend time with 200 of your best friends and better the community.”
When he could enter the transfer portal his sophomore year having previously played soccer at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, now known as IU Indianapolis, Breidenbach was drawn firstly to the impressive soccer facilities on campus, but was also drawn to the academics offered through the FCBE.
“Coach McManus, Coach Mulrooney and the community I met here were really welcoming from the professors to everybody in athletics,” Breidenbach said. “I ended up committing on the drive home from that visit.”
The soccer team partners with organizations like Cancer Kickers, Ronald McDonald House Charities Memphis, and the local Humane Society which Breidenbach volunteers with the most.
“I’ve always had dogs growing up, and when I came here freshman year, we rescued a dog that we named Alpha. He was maybe 8 pounds at the time and now he’s 68 pounds. After that, I wanted to just get involved with the community more, so I reached out to the Humane Society and a couple of our team events we go and help fix their fences, unload trucks of dog food, and just go walk and play with the dogs so they’re not in their kennels all day.”
He said writing letters for Cancer Kickers and spending time with families at the Ronald McDonald House has been really impactful to him personally.
“I’ve probably written hundreds of letters to kids and sometimes you see that they’re only seven or eight years old and they have their whole life ahead of them and they’re struggling, and you don’t know how long they have left. So, I think writing a letter to them and telling them to keep on fighting and that we’re rooting for them and just connecting with them through soccer really stands out,” he said.
The soccer team also spends time volunteering at local food banks serving the Orange Mound community though My Town Miracles.
When asked how he balances volunteerism, athletics and academics, Breidenbach said, “I think if you really want to, you can always make time to serve and volunteer in the community. It just has a lot to do with planning and time management.”
