Go For The Gold
by Jeannine Gage
Tatiana Torres, a senior at Hagerty High School, has played soccer since she was six years old, and her love of the sport has never wavered. The 18-year-old currently plays for her school as well as a club team.
When Tatiana was learning to love soccer, she was also rising through the ranks of Girl Scouts, starting with Brownies. Just like with soccer, Tatiana’s devotion to Girl Scouts has never waned.
So, when she decided to pursue a Gold Award – the highest achievement in Girl Scouts – Tatiana found a way to incorporate her passion for soccer.
“I just love soccer so much and want to share that,” says Tatiana, a member of Girl Scout Troop 1276 in Oviedo.
With that goal in mind, Tatiana organized a soccer camp at Boys Town Central Florida, which is located in Oviedo. Boys Town is a nonprofit organization that offers a variety of critical services for kids and families and a residential campus for at-risk youth. Recently, Tatiana organized and ran a soccer camp for about 20 Boys Town residents with help from her teammates, family, and troop leader. The idea is for the residents to now take Tatiana’s soccer project and run with it.
“I created a playbook with instructions on drills, rules, and how to play certain positions,” she says, “so if the kids want to recreate the camp themselves, they can just refer to the playbook.”
Tatiana, who will attend Brewton-Parker College in Georgia on a soccer scholarship this fall, also turned a storage closet at Boys Town into an equipment room filled with soccer balls, cleats, shin guards, and vests.
“Soccer is a good way to have fun,” says Tatiana. “It takes your mind off everything that’s going on in the world around you, and it builds teamwork and leadership.”
Somebody Who Cares
Tatiana isn’t the first member of Troop 1276 to choose Boys Town as the beneficiary of their Gold Award project. Other members have stocked a game room, painted murals, created a butterfly garden, and built a firepit on the campus.
Veronica Durant, development coordinator at Boys Town, is grateful for all the work the girls have done.
“Some of our kids don’t have the opportunity to feel that they are loved or cared for,” says Veronica. “So when groups like the Girl Scouts come out and do projects here, it shows the kids that there are people out there who care and think about them.”
To attain the Gold Award, Girl Scouts must identify a problem in their community or the world and make a plan to fix it, according to the Girl Scouts of the USA website. Then they create a project plan and submit it to the organization’s leadership for approval. Once approved, they execute the plan, working a minimum of 80 hours on the project. They are also encouraged to recruit fellow Girl Scouts, friends, and family members to help.
The honor is one that few achieve: only 5.4 percent of eligible Girl Scouts actually complete their Gold Award project.
Over the Rainbow
Carina Cook, another member of Troop 1276, is also on track to receive her Gold Award. Carina, an 18-year-old senior, created a website – GSRainbowResources.com – that identifies resources for LGBTQIA+ youth in the six counties served by Girl Scouts of Citrus Council, which includes Seminole County.
“When I figured out that I identified as LGBTQ+, I was lucky to find resources that helped me,” says Carina. “But it was hard to find much. Rainbow Resources puts everything in one space, making it easy to find help.”
She says finding welcoming communities and safe spaces can make a huge difference in the lives of many young LGBTQIA+ people.
“It’s hard,” says Carina. “They need places where they can feel less alone.”
Carina has been involved with Girl Scouts since she became a
Daisy at the age of five, and the organization is still a safe space for her.
“It’s always been such a major part of my life,” she says, “and that has not changed at all. Everyone is still so supportive.”
When Tatiana and Carina officially receive their Gold Awards in June, a total of nine young women from Troop 1276 will have attained that honor. The troop is led by Lorie Massey, her daughter Destiny, and her mother Ruby.
“Destiny was the first in our troop to get her Gold Award, in 2017,” says Lorie. “After that, all the girls were like, ‘I want to do that,’ so I have been helping them ever since. We are so proud of all our girls and their compassion for making this world a better place.”