Northern Kentucky University’s volleyball program will welcome a pair of local girls to its roster Monday afternoon with a special celebration held in conjunction with Boston-based nonprofit Team IMPACT.
The special celebration will be held as 9-year-old Taylor Conrad and her sister 7-year-old Leah Conrad sign official letters of intent with NKU at BB&T Arena prior to a 1:30 p.m. press conference. Taylor was diagnosed in 2016 with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and Leah was diagnosed in 2014 with epilepsy. They are both residents of Florence.
Through Team IMPACT’s program at NKU, Taylor and Leah will become official members of the Norse volleyball team. As members of the NKU program, Taylor and Leah will attend Norse practices, games, team dinners, events and more.
NKU’s Liz Hart
“We are very excited to officially sign Leah and Taylor on Monday,” NKU head coach Liz Hart said. “They have been attending a few of our practices and matches since the fall. They bring a ton of energy and a lot of smiles to our practices. It is an amazing opportunity for our program to be able to provide a strong support system and an outlet for the girls for to come have fun.”
Team IMPACT’s mission is to improve the quality of life for children facing serious and chronic illnesses through the power of team. Team connects children facing serious or chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes.
Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 1,300 children with more than 500 colleges and universities in 47 states, reaching over 35,000 participating student-athletes. The child joins the athletic team and the student-athletes join the child’s support team. Throughout the journey, the child gains strength, camaraderie and support while the student-athletes experience lessons of courage, resiliency and perspective they can’t learn in a classroom.
Taylor’s diagnoses include Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, ADHD and epilepsy with controlled seizures (about once every three months). She is currently in remission from an idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which means that her immune system mistakenly attacks platelets instead of infection.
Leah is also diagnosed with epilepsy and is accompanied by her service dog, Ramsey, who helps in waking up Leah and alerting her mother, Jenka, when she is having a seizure.
Jenka will join the girls in the celebration. Their father, Kyle, is currently deployed with the U.S. Navy.
Hart is a former Norse volleyball standout who earned All-America honors during her playing career. A graduate of Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, she began her NKU playing career by collecting GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2004. She later earned honorable mention All-America accolades from the AVCA as a sophomore and junior.
As a senior, Hart was named GLVC Player of the Year, Great Lakes Region Player of the Year and the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for volleyball. Hart also led NKU to a 26-9 record and helped the Norse secure a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament. She later was named to both the AVCA and Daktronics All-America first teams.
Team IMPACT has more than 1,000 teams waiting to be matched with children, ages 5-16, who have been diagnosed with a serious or chronic illness and who could benefit from becoming a member of the team.
If you know a child who may be interested in becoming a member of Team IMPACT, www.goteamimpact.org”>visit the website.
