GIVE BEFORE you take.

Give before you take.That was a motto the late Saint Mary’s University athletic director Larry Uteck stressed to his student athletes.It carries on today, both at the south-end school and its neighbour, Dalhousie University.Two stories have emerged about students giving back to their communities, in the area and far afield.

Keith MacMillan, a second-year defender on the Huskies soccer team, is spearheading a drive to raise $3,800 for a soccer pitch in Tanzania. He and members of the men’s and women’s soccer teams are contributing 100 per cent of the income from a Camp of Champions soccer camp April 26 and 27, an amount that would normally go to help pay for tuition, books, room and board next year.

Doing something good is nothing new for the international development studies major, and he’s been recognized for being a student leader as well as a stellar athlete and outstanding student. Keith, from Coldbrook, Kings County, is co-chairman of the SMU Athletic Council, which recently collected 200 pairs of shoes for Turning Point Shelter in Halifax.

Last fall, he received the Canadian Interuniversity Sport service award as the outstanding soccer player in the country best combining academics, athletics and community service. "When (co-summer camp co-ordinator) Ally Read and I heard of this, through (athletic director) Dave Murphy, we got very excited about the opportunity to help. These Tanzanian kids in a very rural village of Lashaine have an elementary and middle school but no playing field. We’ve heard (from SMU alumnus Jenny Walker, who’s working there) that the kids have organized a team and are absolutely positive they will be the best team. All they need is a field. We’re going to provide that."

The weekend camp is for young people four to 16 years old, and Keith says half the spots have been filled. Information can be obtained at the Tower (420-5555) or at the Camp of Champions page on the St. Mary's University Website.