Why Duke's soccer programs are playing for something greater than titles

DURHAM, N.C. -- "Wait, I thought the football team was coming today?" Dory sits upright in her hospital bed. Two large Squishmallows rest behind her back, illuminated by the pink and purple streamers adorned with butterfly cutouts. The 9-year-old looks toward the door and asks again, "Is the football team not coming with the dogs?" Before anyone can answer her, Sailor the labradoodle, a Pets at Duke therapy dog delicately jumps on her bed and rests his head on her leg. Pets at Duke is a pet therapy service within the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program dedicated to providing visits to patients receiving care at the hospital and clinics. Taking up half of the bed, Sailor quickly falls asleep as Dory pets his head. An inspiring day at @Duke_Childrens 💙 As apart of our Kicks for Kids initiative, we spent an afternoon spreading joy with service dogs from Pets at Duke at Duke Children's! Donate -> https://t.co/C651DH6o5l https://t.co/EtabktTa9x — Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) September 22, 2026 Duke University men's soccer players Ari Racaj and Adrian Byasiima walk toward her and Sailor. "Hi Dory," Racaj said. "We aren't the football team. But we are on Duke's soccer team." Shyly, Dory glances up at Racaj and Byasiima. The two Duke forwards flash smiles and enthusiastically say, "We have something for you, Dory. Here's a gift from Duke soccer." As Dory looks through a Duke backpack filled with the Duke women's soccer schedule and other Duke soccer items, the players mention that members from the women's team -- who the men say are admittedly "better than the men's team" -- will join them soon. Her eyes light up. She holds the Duke women's soccer schedule with her left arm and flips the paper to look at pictures of the women's players. It's late September, and Dory has been living at Duke Children's Hospital since the summer waiting for a heart transplant. She is one of three inpatient children the Duke men's and women's soccer players will visit on this late September afternoon. For these athletes, the visit to Duke Children's marks a special occasion during their seasons. Prior to the start of their 2026 seasons, the Duke men's and women's soccer programs partnered with Duke Children's to launch the Kicks for Kids initiative in support of Pets at Duke. With the initiative, monetary pledges are made based on the combined goals, assists, shots, corner kicks and saves recorded by both the Duke men's and women's programs. But, for the players, this initiative is about so much more than pledges made on the pitch. It's about forming bonds with the children and playing for something greater than the stat sheets, the accolades and the titles. How Kicks for Kids was born Standing on the pitch at Koskinen Stadium at Duke University, the Duke men's and women's soccer teams eagerly await the arrival of their newest 120-pound member. Slowly making his way across the pitch, Apollo greets the players the only way he knows how: with a slobbery kiss and fluff-filled nudge. Apollo, a 5-year-old Newfoundland, is joined by three other furry friends on the pitch. Met with high-pitched shrieks and joyous laughs, the four service dogs settle in with the soccer players. With just weeks before the start of the 2026 season, the players take a break from their practice to get acquainted with the dogs and learn more about the launch of Kicks for Kids. Sporting Duke Royal Blue vests and leashes, the dogs show off their dribbling skills with the players. Interacting with the service dogs' handlers, the players inquire about what the dogs provide at the hospitals. With each passing minute, the players start to feel the immediate impact of the dogs and their initiative. "It really helped all of us," senior forward Ulfur Bjornsson said. "We all felt it. The fact that we can help out just by our on-field efforts is something we'll never take for granted. ... And I can imagine that the people and the families and everyone involved with someone that's really struggling ... especially with these therapy dogs, they know how to handle these situations, there's nothing better than having a dog." In 2008, former Duke professor George Grody started taking Duke students and student athletes to Duke Children's to visit patients. The goal was to show the students a world outside of their "Duke bubble" and to see the "incredible impact they can have on other people," according to Grody. As the years passed, Grody's philanthropic efforts expanded beyond hospital visits when he launched Birdies for Babies with Duke's golf programs in 2016. Raising money to benefit Duke's neonatal intensive care unit, Birdies for Babies created the opportunity for people to pledge for every birdie and eagle that the golf programs made during their seasons. With the momentum of this initiative, Grody expanded beyond the golf program and helped launch Bases for Babies with Duke baseball. Over the past decade, Grody created multiple initiatives with Duke Athletics, spanning across almost every sport, raising money for cancer research and beyond. Over the past couple years, Grody and the heads of the Duke soccer programs have been trying to figure out the right match for a philanthropic initiative. Last year, Grody sat alongside board members of Duke Children's and Duke Cancer Center and learned more about pet therapy. Like a light bulb going off, Grody exclaimed, "That's it. Pet therapy at Duke is funded solely by philanthropy. The more money we can raise, the more pet visits and the more that we can help the kids." Shortly after, Kicks for Kids was born. Currently, there are four therapy dogs and handlers dedicated to Duke Children's inpatient unit where there are over 100 children. For outpatient, there are three therapy dogs and handlers focused on aspects including echo lab, partial hospitalization unit and ultrasound. For the inpatient unit, Pets at Duke visits twice weekly with approximately six children seen for a total of two hours per visit. During outpatient visits, up to three patients can be seen and 12 patients seen for partial hospitalization. "More pledges, more donations, more visits for the kids," Grody said. "We need to get more dogs and more training because of the limitations for how many times a month a dog can go over there ... It's just more patients and families that we can positively impact. And that's really what the program's about." The impact of the initiative Duke's Elle Piper and Kaeden Koons-Perdikis stand at the entryway of 12-year-old Junior's hospital room. The two members of Duke women's soccer program might as well be invisible. Junior, whose hospital room is decorated with Michael Jordan memorabilia, acknowledges the players' presence but then quickly draws his attention back to Apollo. Staring into Apollo's big black eyes, Junior starts smiling and proclaims, "Can I buy him?" Junior, who has been waiting for a heart transplant at Duke Children's since last spring, wraps his arms around Apollo's head and brings him close to his face. "I want him to stay here," Junior said. His mother and sister watch from the back of the room with tears in their eyes. "Having a visit with a therapy dog like Apollo is a quick reminder and a precious reminder of like, there is a world outside of this hospital and there are things to look forward to when you get better and you get home," said Dr. Piers C.A. Barker, pediatric cardiologist at Duke Children's. "And maintaining that hope is critical. Critical for the children and for the families." Watching Junior, the senior soccer stars grin from ear to ear. For these few minutes inside his hospital room, the players aren't focused on their next match or their performance on the pitch. "This puts things into perspective," Piper said. "Knowing that we play for something much bigger than ourselves. And being here, all that matters is the now. The kids' faces light up when they see the dogs. Junior said he made a new best friend." For the next two hours, the Duke soccer players witness their Kicks for Kids initiative in action in each of the three hospital rooms. Standing in Dory's room with Sailor, Piper, Koons-Perdikis, Racaj and Byasiima watch Dory hold the tubes connected to her arm and rise from her bed. Dory grabs her iPad and starts to swipe through different videos. K-pop music blasts with each video. "What dance are you going to teach us, Dory," Racaj asks. Without hesitation, Dory finds a song and starts dancing. The players follow her lead. "Hey Dory, what dance should we do if we score a goal? Do you want to teach us a celebration dance," Koons-Perdikis asks. Dory throws up her arms in a dabbing motion. The players erupt in laughter and cheers. "That's perfect, Dory," Byasiima said. Before they can even finish practicing their newest celebratory dance, the players are called upon by Dory. "When is your next game," she asks. "And where is it?" Dory grabs the women's schedule and hands it to her dad to put on her wall. How the team's "why" shifted Senior forward Mia Minestrella composes herself inside the penalty box. It's early November, and Duke women's soccer managed to equalize the ACC quarterfinal match against fourth-ranked and third-seeded Wake Forest. Battling it out in regulation, the Blue Devils couldn't push the deciding goal across, and the match went into overtime. After a Wake Forest defender's hand interfered with the ball in the penalty box, Duke earned a penalty kick. Just over one minute into overtime, Minestrella stares down the Wake Forest goalkeeper. Without hesitation, Minestrella launches the ball to the left. As the ball finds the back of the net, the senior sprints to the sidelines. Jumping and screaming, her teammates rush to her side. The former 15th-ranked and sixth-seeded Duke women's soccer team earned a 5-4 overtime victory over Wake Forest. Minestrella's winning goal tied Kelly Walbert's career record at Duke of 47 goals and helped them advance to the semifinals of the ACC championship. At the start of the season, Minestrella reevaluated her "why." After scoring zero goals her freshman year, Minestrella's dominance came at the end of her career as a Blue Devil. But even as her game became more dominant on the pitch, the California native didn't want to lose sight of what she wanted to accomplish and why what she did on the pitch carried far beyond her stat sheet. When Kicks for Kids was introduced to the team, Minestrella knew that her "why" would shift. "It's like we kind of add that into our why as a team and what we're fighting for on and off the field," Minestrella said. As her final season as a Blue Devil nears its end, the future professional player knows that the goal is to lift a trophy -- but it's also more than that. "Each goal is a pledge for [Kicks for Kids]," Minestrella said. "Being able to see it firsthand is just like what we do on the field, our success on the field, the domination on the field. This is what it's for ... it's a piece of a greater cause. And being a part of that and being able to contribute in that way is just really special to see and be a part of." Headed into the ACC semifinals (5 p.m. ET, Thursday, ACCN), the women's program has secured 45 goals, 52 assists, 42 saves and 135 corner kicks. The men finished their season with 30 goals, 33 assists, 45 saves and 93 corner kicks. The season continues for the women, as do the opportunities to continue to raise money for newfound Duke soccer fans like Dory and Junior.