Joey Schneck: Helping For A Cause

Terrapin wrestling Joey Schneck was named one of the University of Maryland’s 2025-26 Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award winners last month, rewarding Schneck for the countless hours he’s put into serving the College Park community.

“I was pretty excited,” Schneck said. “It's not every day that you get to win the award that's associated with Jackie Robinson, someone who's done so much for American history. I was just really happy and really excited. I didn't exactly expect it, so I was excited.”

Schneck has served with Maryland Made and 2025-26 Pre-Health Terps Executive Board this year as one of the group’s directors of recruitment and engagement. His work off the wrestling mat has been not only as a servant, but as a leader in bettering the lives of those around him. 

“With my sport, the success is directly about me and my team and my coaches,” Schneck said. “But the impact of the service is really far-reaching. I'm helping to create the opportunity for other people to have success and to get these treatments that they need, especially with the Project Life movement, doing work that can help people 40 years down the line by helping them find someone who's a stem cell match for them that could help them save their lives.”

Schneck’s work primarily stems around three main passion projects. One is the Project Life Movement, where he has helped recruit over 300 students to the national stem cell and bone marrow registry.

Another example of his dedication for helping others came through his work with the College Park Pregnancy Aid Center, where he provides critical behind-the-scenes support to help deliver affordable OB/GYN care to low-income women.

Finally, Schneck has served as a mentor with Run Your City: College Park, where he has dedicated several Sundays to helping youth get active and find a love for exercise and sport.

“I feel nice that I'm being recognized, but I've never really expected to be recognized,” Schneck said. “It's just doing it because it's the right thing to do. I'm just appreciative that other people can know that I'm doing stuff like this, and I think maybe the ultimate thing about being recognized for this is that maybe it could help other people see that this is what I'm doing and that they could be helping out in their own communities or they could try doing some type of volunteering that they're interested in.”

Schneck credits friends for helping him get involved with all three organizations he works with. He and gymnast Maia Lee worked with Maryland Made to run the on-campus awareness campaign for the Project Life Movement. 

“We knew that with the platforms that we have and the resources that we had available to us, that we could have a really great opportunity to make a difference for this movement,” Schneck said. “The two of us are both going into health care. We both already want to help people. We both want to be involved in medicine. I think the Project Life Movement just hit all those check boxes of something that just made sense for us to get involved with.”

His work at the pregnancy aid center stemmed from a friendship with gymnast Tasha Brozowski, who was a recipient of the Jackie Robinson Award a year ago. She had been involved with the pregnancy aid center for a while and reached out to Schneck about the chance for him to get involved and help out.

“It's been a really great experience,” Schneck said. “It's definitely something I never thought I would be doing, especially since all the patients are women, and it's very women-centered. It didn't really seem like something that, as a guy, I would have gotten involved in. 

Former Terps’ distance runner and Pre-Health Terps president Emma Pegg informed him about a camp that Run Your City was putting on on Sundays for local kids. She reached out to Schneck about him being a mentor or coach, and he jumped on the opportunity. 

“I've always loved working with kids and I love sports, so I just saw somewhere where I thought I could help out,” Schneck said. “I think that volunteering for kids is one of the best things that people can do, because it helps shape kids for the future, and it gives them mentors. I remember from when I was a kid, having different coaches or mentors or just older kids showing me things. I've always loved being able to pay it forward to kids now.”

He had worked with an organization called Miracle League in high school. He worked with kids with special needs and helped them get connected with sports. His previous experience provided a seamless transition into working with the Run Your City group.

“It feels really nice to know the things I'm doing are being received well by other people,” Schneck said.

He and gymnast Maddie Komoroski won this year’s Jackie Robinson Community and Impact Award, highlighting two athletes with similar backgrounds and hearts for their communities. 

“I think what was really special about the award this year is that Maddie Komoroski and I both went to the same high school,” Schneck said. “I think that us both being at Maryland and then having a chance for all the kids back at Pine Richland to see what we're doing and maybe help them get inspired to start making impacts on their communities, I think that's really special, too.”

Schneck’s work with others is just getting started. He’ll continue his passion for the betterment of those around him and his are throughout his college career and well after.