The football staff at Castleton is taking an active stand against domestic violence and changing the perception of football that many people have by working closely with Castleton’s CHANGE (Creating Honoring Advocating Nurturing Gender Equity) Coordinator Amy Bremel to make sure they are part of the solution, not the problem.
“I think it’s important to be involved on the campus,” said offensive coordinator Kevin Trigonis. “The work that Peer Advocates for CHANGE (PAC) is doing is vital on campuses nationwide, especially with things like bystander intervention and making people aware of what they should do in certain situations.”
PAC is a volunteer student group at Castleton that is trained to educate the campus about sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking and harassment. Bremel remembers vividly her first interaction with Coach Trigonis when he arrived on campus less than two years ago.
“I met Kevin during his first few days on campus,” said Bremel. “He wanted to meet and learn about what PAC does and how he could be involved. He told me, ‘I’m not just going to be a name on your contact list. You can count on me to be an active member and contribute to the work.’ Kevin kept his word and has attended many weekly PAC meetings, along with helping to organize domestic violence awareness games for football and women’s hockey on PAC’s behalf.”
The work during his first full year on campus wasn’t just noticed by Bremel and the rest of his coaching staff, but also at the Annual Castleton Awards Ceremony where he was awarded the PAC Campus Ally Award. At the presentation Coach Trigonis was described as a “true activist, conveyed through his passion for sociology, masculinity and gender issues, and sexual assault prevention work. He has high expectations for his guys and role models what it is ‘to be a man.’”
“I’ve felt passionate about this for a while and was happy to get involved at Castleton as well,” said Trigonis. “Programs like Take Back the Night and others are sometimes overlooked but I really feel they are invaluable. I know in my ten years of coaching I’ve had players come to me with off field issues and just being educated enough to respond the right way is huge.”
This year in addition to having Bremel come talk to the team, Castleton Football once again held a “Purple Game” during October which is domestic violence awareness month. Many members of the team have also participated in PAC’s Poetry Slam events, taking the time to write and perform poetry pertaining to social justice.
Kevin’s passion for this type of work has only increased since he and his wife Tessa welcomed their first child, Brayden, this fall. He feels even more strongly about the need to be a mentor for his players, in addition to being a good coach to them. It is something that Castleton President Dave Wolk has noticed.
“Head Coach Tony Volpone and Coach Trigonis are respected leaders and have been a unifying force on our campus. Their example of inclusion while celebrating individual differences, that which unites us rather than what separates us, respecting all members of our community, has become the model here on our campus,” said Wolk. “I’m thankful to Kevin for unifying our ‘teams’ to show that PAC isn’t out to target or attack men but rather show that in the spirit of this work, we all win when we get together for a common cause.”