TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - For Florida State head women's basketball coach Sue Semrau, giving back is a calling, and every year she coaches barefoot for a game with a purpose.
"We look in our closet and we see what shoes are we going to wear today? When you look in your closest and you say, I'm not wearing any shoes, it really brings it back home," she said.
According to the World Health Organization, wearing shoes could prevent foot borne illnesses that affect 1.5 billion people every year. Enter Samaritan's Feet, who provides shoes to those in need, and coach is one of their biggest supporters.
"There was an article written, and Coach Sue saw it, and said have any women's coaches every done this?" said Manny Ohonme, who didn't receive his first pair of shoes until the age of nine. He started Samaritan's Feet. "I said no, she said can I be one? I said please! She did and she's changed everything for us."
"I can see it. I can feel it. I've been on a mission trip over in Africa with them," added Semrau. "For me, it's just that awareness that we're really lucky."
It's Iuck that goes both ways.
"She's one of the most generous people I know, but more importantly, she's one of the most amazing human beings you will meet," said Ohonme of Semrau. "The compassion, and she leads and teaches by example."
"There's nothing greater than being able to take your eyes off of basketball and put them on something that is so critical to people's well being," she added.
"They were taught what it means to be compassionate, to serve, to give back becuase humility is the true science of greatness," said Ohonme of how Semrau leads her team. "That's what she's teaching them. That's what's going to change their lives and change others lives one day."
A life changed, by giving back.
