ORONO, Maine — Mayson Dawicki isn’t like most of the players on the University of Maine football team.
The Orono native has cystic fibrosis, a disease that damages the lungs and digestive system.
And he’s just 11 years old.
Mayson was officially introduced at a signing day press conference last Thursday at Morse Field at Harold Alfond Sports Stadium in Orono through a partnership with Team IMPACT, a national nonprofit that links children with serious illnesses and disabilities with college teams across the country.
He attended the UMaine football team’s first scrimmage last week and will be going to games, practices, weight training and other team activities over the next two years to form a relationship with the team based on socialization, empowerment and resilience.
“I don’t have words for it, to be honest,” said Ashley Hart, Mayson’s mother. “It is an amazing opportunity. Not only does he get to do exciting things like go out on the field with the team, he does different activities with them like meal time and hanging out with them.”
She added that they are not only focused on athletics, they have also stressed the importance of academics and keeping your body healthy and fit.
“He gets to connect with them on a personal level, and he is exposed to so many great role models at the same time,” said Hart.
One of the strong connections between Mayson and the players is physical therapy.
“A lot of them have to get physical therapy daily, and Mayson has to also have physical therapy every day for his lungs,” explained Hart. “To see someone else going through it is good for him.”
Hart added that the UMaine players have been “great,” sending Mayson frequent videos and going out of their way to talk to him when he’s around the team.
“It has been very fun,” Mayson said. “I especially like being on the sidelines. I like to see the action.”
Hart learned about the Team IMPACT program from Mayson’s cystic fibrosis clinic in Portland.
“They explained it to us, and it sounded perfect for Mason because he is so outdoorsy and is really into sports, especially football and baseball.”
When first-year UMaine football coach Jordan Stevens was contacted about getting involved with Team IMPACT, he was all in.
Part of being a Division I athlete is giving back to the community as they are role models for people of all ages.
“It has been awesome,” said Stevens, who came to UMaine from Yale University, where he was the assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach and pro liaison.
Stevens, a Temple native and former Mt. Blue High School of Farmington and UMaine standout, said Yale participated in the program, where a young man has been a part of the team for close to 10 years.
“I want to be involved with the community and do more. I know how impactful that can be,” he said. “To have [Mayson] here offers our guys great perspective.”
The players are happy to be part of the Team IMPACT program.
“I love doing this stuff because it shows how much we care about this community … how much we can give back, not just being football players, but being people,” said senior defensive lineman Justin Sambu. “I appreciate that we can do things like this for people like [Mayson].”
Ten players have gone through IMPACT training and they will be the ones Mayson will get to know on a personal level.
“I feel great that we do things like this,” said senior defensive lineman Josh Lezin. “We are always working with kids. Over the summer, we went to an elementary school to play with the kids a little bit. It’s a big thing adding Mayson to our team. He is definitely a great kid.”
Mayson will be with the team at least once a week, and he is intending to play football for the Orono Middle School team this fall, Hart said.