hile sports are often defined by competition — the grittiest wins and bitterest rivalries — many Harvard teams are looking beyond the field, court, or ice to understand the power of connection and belonging through athletics.

Team IMPACT is a non-profit organization that pairs children with serious illnesses or life-altering disabilities with collegiate sports teams across the country. Since its establishment in 2011, the program has made 4,491 all-time matches on teams at 868 college campuses.

Over the course of its 15 years, the Boston-based Team IMPACT has worked closely with several Harvard teams, including men’s and women’s basketball, lacrosse, soccer, ice hockey, and football.

Team IMPACT’s mission is to provide the children it serves with strong, team-oriented support systems. For many of the Team IMPACT children, access to social groups at school and in their communities can be significantly limited.

The organization believes not only in the way sports foster a sense of teamwork and belonging but also in the mutual benefit of these partnerships.

“I really believe that it’s not just for the child that’s paired. I really believe it’s for the benefit of the team and the teams that are also lucky enough to get paired with those children,” said Grace Taylor ’25.

A graduate of Harvard women’s lacrosse, Taylor served as a Team IMPACT fellow and initially advocated for her team’s partnership with the program. Once appointed as a fellow, she acted as a point person for both the organization and her newest teammate, Tilly, ensuring that she and her sister Josephine were welcomed into the team. Taylor often sent video updates and coordinated game visits in addition to FaceTiming and texting.

Taylor’s personal battle with cancer during her collegiate career, coupled with her relationship with Tilly, allowed her to better understand and relate to her teammate’s perspective.

“Even though I had a really different experience than Tilly, I learned so much from her not only in her resilience and her grit — which we talk so much about in sports — but also just her joy. She’s really someone who chooses joy in the middle of hardship and during hardship and doesn’t wait for it to be over,” Taylor said. “At the end of the day, while sports are about perseverance and overcoming adversity, they’re also a lot about joy and teamwork and connection.”

The lacrosse alumna still speaks with Tilly and her family often. Taylor even recently attended Tilly’s sister Josephine’s middle school violin recital.

“The relationships are what I take away from my sport,” Taylor said. “I don’t remember anything about the stats, I don’t remember what happened to that little rubber ball, but I do really remember the lessons that Tilly and Josephine taught me. I really value our relationship still, and that’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life, which is a really unique blessing.”

When a child is paired with an athletics team, Team IMPACT organizes a signing day for the student-athletes to welcome their newest teammate. The child’s family attends the event and is often welcomed into the team’s culture as well. Throughout the traditional two-year program, the signees attend practices, games, and bonding activities, all aimed at incorporating the child into the team as much as possible. At Harvard, they often receive their own jerseys and sometimes are even given a place in the locker room.

“Our team as a whole just loves when she’s around. She makes every moment better when she’s in it. Everyone is so happy to see her when we get her there, and she’s so happy to be there,” women’s hockey sophomore and Team IMPACT fellow Ella Lucia said of teammate Paytton.

Team IMPACT first found support among the ice hockey community, making its first match with Saint Anselm’s College’s men’s hockey team. Expanding on this connection to the sport, the organization has hosted a Beanpot Ping Pong Tournament, fondly known as the “Beanpong,” to spotlight each Boston-area college’s work with the organization. The hockey teams take it seriously — there is a running theory that whoever wins the Beanpong will go on to win the Beanpot. At the 2026 Beanpot, which the Harvard women won, Paytton joined her team on the bench during warmups and in the locker room afterward to hoist the trophy.

“Culture is something that we take pride in, and having her there and being a part of our team definitely adds to that,” Lucia said. “I think Team IMPACT has positively changed all of our experiences. It’s a program that allows you to add another team member who is a light when she’s around.”

Harvard Athletics has 10 programs from which Team IMPACT children have “graduated” and seven ongoing matches. Although the organization formally supports the pairings for only two years, many of the relationships formed at Harvard continue. In the case of women’s lacrosse, Tilly has since graduated, but she and her family remain a constant presence at home and nearby matches.

“When they arrive at games, it’s always like a breath of fresh air,” the team’s head coach, Devon Wills, said. “It’s just amazing to see how much they’ve grown, and they always come bouncing over and give us hugs, and as a coach, you’re kind of stressing out about the game or a little nervous, and then a hug from them just puts it all into perspective.”

“I think it’s always a really great moment that gives everybody the ability to take a deep breath before the game starts,” the coach added.

While Team IMPACT teammates serve as a friendly face in the crowds or on the sidelines, they have also strengthened their teams’ cultures.

“One of our core values was gratitude,” Taylor said. “And when you are sprinting and you’re sweating and you’re in pain and discomfort, it can feel like you’re doing something really, really hard. But when you look over at Tilly, and she just came from a chemo appointment, and she has the biggest smile on her face, you can’t help but feel gratitude for the privilege of movement and being a part of a team. I think Tilly and Josephine really helped us recognize that gratitude is a core value to our team, and what a gift – what a blessing – it is to be able to move and play lacrosse and be part of a team and represent Harvard.”

By immersing a child in a sports environment, Team IMPACT acknowledges the power of belonging and community through athletics. The organization also emphasizes the mutual benefits of the pairings.

“It’s such a beneficial program, and I think it’s always maybe viewed like this is something that a team is doing for the kid,” Wills said. “But we’re just so lucky to be a part of her life and their family and go through it with them. It’s definitely not a one-way relationship. It’s reciprocated, and if anything, I think we’re just so lucky to be involved with who they are and their journey. The thing with Team IMPACT is it grants you that opportunity to build a deeper relationship.”

“You get to step out of hockey as a sport and more so look at why we’re doing it and how much it can affect people outside of our team,” Lucia said.

For many athletes, such as Taylor, the connections facilitated by Team IMPACT are deeply fulfilling and sometimes lifelong. Looking back on her involvement with the organization, Taylor recognized the significant role it ultimately played in shaping her experience as a collegiate athlete.

“It’s an amazing network of student-athletes. You learn so much,” she said. “I think there’s a million things that we’re drawn to while we’re at Harvard, but now that I have some space and some perspective, Team IMPACT was probably the thing that I did that I’m most proud of.”

—Staff writer Bennett Trubey can be reached at [email protected].