GREG BARNETT
Sports Editor
Pepperdine senior setter Jonathan Winder of the men’s volleyball team is making a big impact both on and off the court. When in uniform, he’s one of the Waves’ known leaders. When not, he’s a leader in the communnity. Winder recentely sat down with the Graphic to discuss these two leadership roles.
What charities or volunteer work are you involved with?
“I mentor a little kid through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. I do it in Santa Monica. He is a 9 year-old and his name is Sanford, so I hang out with him every other week.
He loves sports — he’s a lot like me when I was younger, so it’s kind of cool seeing him. His parents are divorced and he just loves to play football and soccer so we play a lot of football and soccer. I was over there on Sunday and we made pizza and stuff like that. It’s not a huge time commitment, but I enjoy spending time with him and I think he enjoys spending time with me.
I know his mom really enjoys it because she can’t really play sports with him or do stuff like that when his father is not around. It’s good that I can come in and just hang out with him. I help him out a little bit with his homework, but he’s not really into school.”
Do you have any future plans for a non-profit foundation?
“I’m trying to start a non-profit called Our Fathers Foundation. It’s a non-profit foundation for fatherless children. I just started it last semester and I’ll probably really start it once I graduate. Right now I’m trying to talk to people and get it going.
It’s basically just raising money to help fatherless children and their mothers. It stems from a verse in James 1:27 where it says “The only true religion is helping widows and orphans.” So basically just doing that.
It would find and connect people together and have mentoring programs and really just support a widow. Say her car breaks down and she doesn’t have enough money to fix her car and can’t get her kids to school or get to work. We would either come in and fix her car for her or be able to take people to work. It’s a program but also financial assistance.”
How did it feel receiving national player of the year honors last season?
“It was nice. It’s a good honor. I didn’t really see it coming. I played well and we had a good team. It was almost like we peaked too early or something like that. Junior Paul Carroll and I got these cool awards and then all of a sudden the next day we play and lose. You play really bad and it’s really frustrating. You go home with a really sad feeling.”
Do you or the team have any superstitions?
“I know I eat Subway before every match. I get a six-inch Italian BMT on Italian herb and cheese bread with lettuce, olives, mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. It’s been like that every year. It’s a good little meal. I don’t know about any other teammates, but there aren’t any team superstitions.”
What do you like to do away from volleyball?
“When I’m not playing I like to play the Wii, it’s a lot of fun.”
What are your plans after you graduate?
“After I graduate, this is the summer of the Olympics, so hopefully practice with the team. There’s usually about 20 guys in the gym. I was there this last summer and will hopefully be there again this summer.
After that, go play professionally overseas somewhere. Anywhere in Europe and there are some Asian countries but mainly Europe is the best. It’s really similar to soccer to where they have a champions league and each country has their own league. There are some places that are better than others so I’d like to go to one of those places, but you can’t talk to an agent until you graduate.”
Do you have a chance to play in the Olympics this summer?
“There’s always a chance. It’s more of a longshot right now. If I’m in the gym, I’m probably the fourth setter and they only take two. I’d be the youngest guy there by far. We have the oldest national team in the world. The other setters are 36 and 29 or something like that. They have a lot more experience than I do.”
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
“That would make me 32. Hopefully I’ll be married with some kids. I’d be near the end of my volleyball career and having accomplished a lot. I’ll be running the foundation for the most part and that’d be fully functioning and thriving. I’d love to live in another country for a long time so by then I’d be coming back to America and getting settled back in here.”
01-31-2008
