When Matthew Cindric returned to Cal in May to attend the Golden Buddies Football Clinic for the first time since its inaugural edition in 2023, he was quite pleased.

"It has grown in ways that I couldn't have even imagined," said Cindric, a former Cal offensive lineman who co-founded the event in the summer of 2023 with Cal football teammate Myles Williams. The event was created in collaboration with the Cameron Institute, Exceptional Sports and the Special Olympics of Northern California to engage students ages 6-13 with and without intellectual disabilities for a day of football drills and sports education.

At the first Golden Buddies in 2023, about 30-40 kids showed up to participate, along with a handful of Cal football players that Cindric and Williams recruited to serve as their instructors. Cindric — who brought the idea to the Cameron Institute Community Engagement Pillar within Cal Athletics with the hopes of making a long-lasting impact on the community he loves — was happy to get Golden Buddies off the ground more than three years ago But he is ecstatic with the way it has taken off since. The number of participants has grown by more than 500% with more than 200 kids in attendance and over half of the team's 105-player roster — including event captains, organizers and hosts Alonzo Esparza, B.J. Jones and Bastian Swinney — willing to volunteer on a rare off Saturday.

"The event was amazing," Cal quarterback and volunteer Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele said. "It was great to give back to the kids and see them enjoy their time. Seeing a smile on their face made everything 10 times better. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be out there."

"It's been incredible to see that growth and how much the community and so many people at Cal have rallied behind the idea," Cindric said. "The event has received so much support from so many different people who really believe in it."

Among those believers are the Olden Bears Fund, a group of UC Berkeley alumni mostly from the 1970s or according to their website "just a bunch of old blues getting together and trying to do something good."

"The Golden Buddies Football Clinic aligns with all of our pillars — it supports Berkeley and communities of need, and it is involved in sports," said Olden Bear Steven Gomberg, who graduated from Cal with an accounting degree in 1979 before adding an MBA in 1981. "The event is so joyous, and it's so rewarding and fulfilling to see everyone involved having a great time. We hope we can add to the value Golden Buddies brings and are proud to be associated with the event."

The Olden Bears learned about Golden Buddies in 2024, and by the time the annual event returned in 2025, they were financially sponsoring it and lending a hand to provide volunteer support on event day.

"We really appreciate the Olden Bears Fund sponsorship, but what makes it even more special is their willingness to roll up their sleeves and help in any way they can on event day," said Tayler Perez, Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships for the Cameron Institute, which was founded, in part, to help Cal student-athletes engage with the community.

Another strong push of support this year came from first-year Travers Family Head Football Coach Tosh Lupoi, who encouraged his players to volunteer for the event and welcomed Golden Buddies to play a part in the team's annual spring game for the first time. Xander Jones, a Golden Buddies participant and the 8-year-old younger brother of Cal inside linebacker B.J. Jones, was invited to take part in the spring game's final play. After taking a handoff, Jones made his way into the end zone while being rooted on by Lupoi and Cal's players.

"It was really cool that they invited my brother to be a part of the spring game and then encouraged him to do it," said B.J. Jones. "Sometimes, he is shy around people, but he loved it and had a great time. At the end of the day, it's all about inclusion."
Indeed, a big part of the next step for Golden Buddies is to include more people.

"I hope it continues to grow and impact more and more people, and that it allows people to not only engage with Cal football but to go far beyond that," Cindric said. "I think there are already talks about Golden Buddies, including more than just football. To continue its rapid growth, that will be important. We would love for it to include Cal basketball, soccer, baseball, field hockey, you name the sport. We have a great opportunity to bring Golden Buddies to a point where we can have multiple events throughout the year, engage and help our community even more, and showcase so many great sports at Cal. It would be a win-win for everybody."
 
The Cameron Institute for Student-Athlete Development was founded in 2019 and made possible through a generous $12.5M endowment from C. Bryan Cameron. The Cameron Institute for Student-Athlete Development supports student-athletes reaching their full potential at Cal and thriving for a lifetime. A suite of services is delivered in various formats (1:1 sessions, team sessions, experiences within the community) through three main pillars: Career Development, Community Engagement, and Mental Performance & Leadership Development. If you would like to learn more about Golden Buddies and other community engagement initiatives, contact Cameron Institute Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships Tayler Perez (tayler.perez@berkeley.edu).