Sports Pals is a student-led organization aiming to promote engagement with the disabled community through a shared love of athletics. Our mission is to pair engaging, high school mentor athletes with enthused, mentee athletes with disabilities. We firmly believe that fostering these relationships will build community, understanding, as well as enduring friendships.
The Founders
Boone Davis
The power that athletics has to open up lines of communication and community between people struck me a couple years ago, while on a service trip to Central America. Near the school where we worked, I saw some young kids lose a soccer ball into a ravine beside their field. I helped them get it, and they invited me to play with them. Sadly, my Spanish was less than ideal, but through the game, we were able to form quick bonds, laughing and playing into the evening. This experience resonated with me. I saw that the unique qualities of sport- the physicality, the camaraderie, and moreover, the mutual respect- could eliminate barriers to communication between all sorts of people. It is my hope that our organization will enable these bonds to the betterment and happiness of both mentor and mentee alike.
I am currently a Senior at the Dalton School in New York. I live in Brooklyn with my parents and younger brother. In addition to athletics, I am an avid student and musician.
Hayden Almeraz
Hayden Almeraz is a senior at Dalton High School. He is the co-founder and co-president of SPORTS PALS, a mentorship club at Dalton in partnership with the AYSO West Side Soccer League that pairs developmentally challenged soccer players with high school mentors. Hayden is also a soccer player who has played Club Soccer since the time he was 8 years old, and his soccer adventures have taken him to international tournaments all over the world. Outside of sports, Hayden is passionate about Animal and Marine Science and has worked as an intern at the Institute of Ecological Research in Puerto Rico, an organization dedicated to ocean conservation and coral reef restoration. He is currently serving as a 2024 NOAA Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassador, orchestrating initiatives to promote youth engagement with the cause of climate activism and ocean stewardship. Hayden also loves the arts and is a singer / actor / guitar player with professional representation with the Zuri Agency who has been seen in theater (on stages in New York and Rhode Island) and in film projects. He is currently working on a solo musical film called ROAR which is inspired by his personal life story.