Athletes with other talents

By Bhagwat Kumar     2/14/13 6:00pm

 

 

Being a student-athlete is about as taxing an occupation as one can find on the Rice campus. In addition to the hours spent in practice, working out individually or competing, these students must also deal with the exhaustive amount of schoolwork customary at Rice. Still, some of these athletes find time between the classroom and the courts to pursue their passions. Gabriela Iribarne, a sophomore soccer player at Will Rice College, and Tommy Economou, a sophomore golfer at Hanszen College, are two such athletes.

---

---

Gabriela Iribarne 

For Iribarne, this passion is bringing the joy of the sport she loves to underprivileged children around the world. In 2006, Gabriela Iribarne's sister Nicolette Iribarne, a junior at the time, founded Futbol 4 Dreams, a nonprofit that focuses on collecting soccer balls, uniforms, cleats and other soccer equipment and sending them to underprivileged children around the world. Volunteers decorate the soccer balls personally with inspirational messages and images.

The idea was formulated at the family dinner table. Gabriela Iribarne and her siblings played soccer throughout their childhood. Their family also traveled frequently during this time, and everywhere they went, they saw children playing soccer. Iribarne said she and her siblings were immediately able to connect with these children, irrespective of any cultural or linguistic barriers. The idea started as sending soccer balls to refugees, with Azerbaijan as the intended destination, but was then expanded to underprivileged children in general. Once Nicolette moved to Spain to study abroad, Iribarne took responsibility for Futbol 4 Dreams in the United States.

Iribarne started a chapter of the club at her high school, which is still running along with several other chapters at sister high schools. Iribarne and her sister work in conjunction to run the club even while Nicolette is abroad.

"We are currently both working collaboratively on the organization and are in constant contact, and [we] are working on ways to improve our nonprofit and keep it running," Iribarne said.

Statistically, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. However, too many children around the world are unable to purchase the requisite equipment to play, which is where Futbol 4 Dreams comes in, providing these children with the resources they need to enjoy the sport.

"We aim to share the game with them, extend our friendship and give them a gift that expresses how we feel about football," Iribarne said. "It's a fun, dynamic activity we can share together no matter who we are, where we come from or where we are going."

Iribarne and her sister have been successful so far, as the organization has grown into an international club that has sent more than 3,000 soccer balls to children around the world since its inception.

Despite the organization's growth, Iribarne still has to juggle expanding the charity with the rest of her priorities, especially her own athletic career. Iribarne said she believes playing soccer has actually helped her to run the organization.

"Because soccer is such a relevant part of my life, I find it easy to relate to other people such as coaches, teams and individuals that share the same passion for the game that are motivated through my efforts to keep the organization running and growing every day," Iribarne said.

Iribarne said that although life can get busy quickly with schoolwork and soccer, she is able to make room in her schedule for Futbol 4 Dreams because it is something she feels is making an impact in communities around the world.

"Soccer has always been a big part of my life, so I can't imagine running the charity without soccer," Iribarne said.

Still, as with any other large-scale endeavor, Futbol 4 Dreams is not without its complications. According to Iribarne, the biggest difficulty is the constant need to be actively searching for new ways to receive donations, as well as to find people and organizations that can deliver the group's shipments.

"It requires constant effort, otherwise it would die out," Iribarne said. "It is a great idea, but it does not thrive without constant effort to stay on the map and constantly being in contact with people that are willing to help and stand behind the organization."

This effort has its obvious benefits; however, the feedback from children who have been benefited across the the world is the primary one.

"Seeing how our donations and efforts affect communities across the world makes it all worth it," Iribarne said.

Although Iribarne is often unable to personally deliver the donations, she said the knowledge the organization is bringing joy to children internationally is enough.

"There are no words to describe emotion of the kids that receive the donations," Iribarne said. "It makes all the effort worthwhile, and every time we get pictures, it drives motivation for us to keep the organization growing and for finding more donations and places we can send our shipments to."

Futbol 4 Dreams is starting to receive recognition for its success. It was formally recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit by the Internal Revenue Service this January. Iribarne also said she wants to run the organization full time, eventually traveling to set up a soccer clinic and become a part of the communities Futbol 4 Dreams is reaching.

Iribarne also said Futbol 4 Dreams is currently active. Interested donors can visit the website at http://futbol4dreams.wix.com/futbol4dreams or email the group at futbol4dreams@gmail.com.

 

Tommy Economou

Tommy Economou's off-the-field passion is music. Economou, who has been a musician since the age of 7, plays both the guitar and the drums in addition to being a talented vocalist. He has been playing the guitar for seven years, and he picked up the drums a year after he started the guitar.

Interestingly, Economou's original foray into music was actually forced upon him. When he was 7, his mother coerced him into joining the school choir. Even though Economou was initially resentful, he quickly realized he enjoyed singing. This revelation eventually also led him toward the guitar, and he wound up being a member of the choir for 11 years, through his senior year of high school. Since then, Economou has been playing, performing and writing music of his own.

Economou said his biggest influence as a young musician was primarily classic rock. Economou specifically mentioned the Beatles, the Doors and Led Zeppelin as artists who had helped shape his musical style.

Unsurprisingly, Economou's personal musical taste reflects his major influences, with a few more recent bands included. He said his all-time favorite band is Radiohead, with the Beatles and the Red Hot Chili Peppers rounding out his top three. As anyone who knows Economou can attest, he often can be heard singing songs by these artists, and many others, at all hours of the day.

Playing music is a major component of Economou's life, and he tries to play every day. He plays constantly at home, either covering songs from other bands or musicians or working on personal projects.

"Whenever I'm in a bad mood or stressed, music always makes things better," Economou said.

Economou said he also enjoys the social aspect of music, especially getting to perform and work with other artists. Music is an emotional release for Economou and one he enjoys being able to share with other people.

"I also love being able to play with my friends and collaborate with people," Economou said. "Playing music is definitely one of my favorite things to do in life."

For Economou, playing music is not something he must make time for, but something he must work the rest of his schedule around, which can sometimes lead to casting aside other priorities.

"I try to play every day, probably when I should be doing homework," Economou said. "I play whenever I have free time."

Economou aspires to eventually be a professional musician and has been working on original music. He has written his own songs over the past year, and he hopes to record them soon. He said he will ideally be able to release his music in the near future.

Economou was also featured recently at Rice Coffeehouse's "Espresso Yourself" concert series, performing a versatile setlist of about 15 songs that featured artists ranging from Radiohead to Alice in Chains to John Mayer.

According to Economou, performance is the best part about playing music, despite the nerves that accompany any live performance. Again, the sociality of music is important to Economou, who enjoys performing even more when he is able to do it with others.

"The adrenaline rush of playing in front of people is really great, especially when you're playing with a band," Economou said.

While getting to celebrate his work publicly is Economou's favorite aspect of being a musician, it's often the unsung, behind-the-scenes work that he finds the most frustrating. Still, as with any good musician, the reason it is often so much work to produce music is that Economou is his own biggest critic, meaning it usually takes time to create something he is fully satisfied with.

"The most frustrating part is definitely trying to write your own music," Economou said. "It's so tough to create something that's original and of good quality. It takes a lot of time and patience."

Both Economou and Iribarne said their passions are activities they find solace in, not ones they view as time commitments. While most students are busy doing homework or procrastinating on said homework, Economou and Iribarne are putting their efforts into the things they love, making progress each and every day on their respective goals. If there is a lesson to be learned from the two, it is that no matter how busy someone is, there is always time in the day to work on something that matters to them. Whether it is expanding a charity or writing a song, Economou and Iribarne teach us that it is always important to pursue what we love.

---