Former SWR volleyball star volunteers to help kids in Vietnam with lessons about life, sports

ASHEBORO — There are many ways a collegiate student-athlete can enhance a college experience, including:

■ Join non-sports campus clubs to meet non-athletes.

■ Take advantage of campus tutoring centers to help newer student-athletes with their academic concerns and guide them in making adjustments to their new environment.

■ Build a Josie Allred professional network, connecting with alumni, donors and business leaders who could one day help the student-athletes in professional decisions.

Or one could do what Southwestern Randolph High School graduate and University of Rhode Island student-athlete Josie Allred did in June and July of this year. She flew nearly 9,000 miles solo to Vi Thuy, a rural community along the Mekong Delta in Vietnam through a program called Coach for College, a nationwide organization of student-athlete volunteers  who teach and coach children in communities with high drop-out rates.

Through academics, teaching life skills and sports, these student-athlete volunteers are sent to stress the importance of getting an education while enjoying and experiencing all the lessons a particular sport can give each individual.

The American volunteers are paired with a like number of Vietnamese university students at a particular school who assist with the language barrier that exist in building a strong rapport with the children.

Children gain motivation to stay in school, knowledge and tools to succeed in both the classroom and life, as well as a strong, new confidence in their individual value and personal potential.

Allred, who was on the SWR 2022 volleyball state championship team, coached volleyball and taught English through her month-long tenure.

“My teammates did it in 2024, Rhode Island has had reps go every year,” said Allred, who was a high jumper on the RIU track team. “They all said they had an awesome experience. 

“I had done a lot of volunteering with youth at school. I love sports and education. These were two of my biggest passions combined. This was my way of giving back after having an athletic career. I had to give back in my own way.”

What a way it was.

Coach for College began as a partnership between Duke and UNC in 2008, founded by Rhodes Scholar and Duke tennis player Parker Goyer. NC State, Harvard, Wake Forest, Indiana, UNCG, Virginia, Villanova, Syracuse, Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame and more than two dozen more universities have sent student-athletes from baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, diving, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, wrestling and a dozen other sports to Vietnam under the program. 

Nearly 800 students from nearly 50 universities have participated in CFC.

Allred was the only Rhode Island athlete participating at this time, so she received a list of other student-athletes who would be with her and texted them prior to boarding the plane. She flew out of Boston to begin her 28-hour flight, with stops in Minneapolis and South Korea before arriving in Vietnam.

She admitted she upgraded her flight on the way back.

“It was intimidating, but my teammates said you will become best friends with the people who are there,” Allred said. “For me, it was go with the flow. That’s how I am.”

The eight American volunteers stayed in a “guest house” along with the eight Vietnamese university students, a guest house that resembled a hotel except there was no hot water and no air conditioning.

“Other than the no hot water or air conditioning, it was what I had been mentally prepared for,” said Allred, who has one more year to complete her Masters Degree in International Relations, hoping it leads to a job in education.

There were two sessions each day. The first was for graders and the after­noon was for rising 9th graders. There were a few rising 7th graders sprinkled in. 

“We would wake up at 6 a.m., have breakfast and start at 7:15 a.m.,” Allred said. “The first group ended at (noon), and we’d come back at 1:45 until 5. We would lesson-plan from 7 to 8:30 p.m. We would create lesson plans at the guest house.”

Allred taught English and a lot of that was done through games played in the classroom. 

“We practiced English, math, biology and incorporated a lot of games to make it fun,” Allred said, stating one of the games was having the students recognize a word in English and run up to slap the blackboard.

There was plenty of team bonding and life-skill lessons taught, including finances, self-esteem, leadership qualities, setting goals and how to get into college.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, students would have two academic classes and one sports class; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, it was two sports classes and one academic class. The sports taught at Allred’s school were volleyball, frisbee and soccer.

On Fridays, after some academic tests, they spent the rest of the day playing sports.

“It was definitely difficult,” Allred said of the language barrier. “I tried to study Vietnamese for eight months and maybe I wouldn’t pronounce it the right way in Vietnamese, but I could write it on the board.

“Teaching volleyball, it was a little frustrating waiting for the translator because there is so much jargon. You definitely did a lot more body language and verbal cues like thumbs up.”

The students were underprivileged and had been in very overcrowded classrooms. They played sports barefoot and even though some children were a bit better off than others, those children wouldn’t flaunt or even wear nice items to school in order to better fit in.

“With the language barrier, some could speak more than others,” Allred said. “Even the ones who spoke minimal English, you built connections with.”

Allred even texted SWR volleyball coach Darby Kennedy while she was in Vietnam, asking her advice on how to introduce the sport and what various drills would best suit the beginners.

“I drew on my years on jayvee and varsity and was saying the same things to the kids that the coaches were saying to me back then,” Allred said. “I felt like a mini-Darby.”

Though the weather was extremely humid, the food, she said, was amazing.

The student-athletes went to what Allred said translated to Cafe 95, a cafe that was below the residence of the owners. They would go upstairs for their meals, which consisted of rice, pork, chicken, eggs, water spinach and the best fruit Allred said she had ever eaten. There was also a lot of noodles, broccoli, carrots and other vegetables.

The children who attended the school and the student-athletes quickly formed a bond.

“They welcomed us in so quickly, I definitely made a lot of connections with the kids,” Allred said. “I will always remember them. They would give us little gifts like letters. I know one time all the kids pooled their money together and bought a keychain to give to (one of the teachers). They would give us notes saying the CFC was the best part of their childhood and you inspired to keep me in school. A lot of these kids want to drop out and go to work. That’s what we are combatting.”

Allred said after the final day and with the student-athletes taking a bus back to the guest house for the final time, many of the students would follow the bus on their bikes, even after giving the student-athletes hugs, notes, candy and gifts for what they have done for them.

One student made a special gesture to Allred.

“My favorite student found me and through a Google translator app on a phone, said ‘Glad to meet you,’” Allred said. “I definitely learned more from the kids than they learned from me. It was very humbling to work with them and everyone there. 

“It was about the kids. I made a lot of connections with other Americans and made some really, really good friends with the Vietnamese coaches. They are all so smart. I really hope to go back one day and visit the friends I made there.”

Allred said she hopes her positive experience with CFC will inspire other collegiate athletes from Randolph County to join the organization and help the lives of children in Vietnam.

More information, pictures, testimonies and an application can be obtained on the CFC website coachforcollege.org.