South Orange, N.J. – In conjunction with the H.A.L.L. (Helping Athletes Learn to be Leaders) Program and Seton Hall Athletics’ mission to enable all student-athletes to maximize their personal potential, Pirates student-athletes set a new benchmark in community enrichment with 3,168 volunteer hours during the 2015-16 academic year. This is third consecutive year that student-athletes have set a new department record for community service.

“Community service aids in Seton Hall’s overall mission of developing complete student-athletes,” said Emily Hansinger, a women’s soccer senior and president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). “By doing service, we learn about the importance of giving back to the community by doing something greater than ourselves.”

Seton Hall student-athletes could be found volunteering across New Jersey, participating in events such as Freshman Move-In Day, Grow-A-Row, Reading with the Pirates, the Pen Pal Program, One Shirt One Body, Thanksgiving Basket Deliveries and visits to Barnabas Medical Center to interact with children.

“As a college athlete it is important to realize the privileges that we have in our environment,” said Jeff Larson, a sophomore on the men’s cross country team and SAAC representative. “Having these privileges gives us the opportunity to reach out to improve our communities for current and future generations, so that one day they will have the privileges and opportunities that we are given.”

The mission of the H.A.L.L. Program is to be the catalyst that transforms high school graduates into student-athlete leaders, and then leaders in the professional world. The H.A.L.L. Program consists of five different components, each designed to enhance the student-athletes’ experiences and develop the skills necessary to grow to be successful inside and outside the classrooms and post graduation.
Leadership Development
Student-Athlete Welfare Enhancement
Academic and Athletic Success Initiatives
Community Enrichment
Spiritual Growth

To learn more please visit: http://www.shupirates.com/genrel/061316aab.html

South Carolina was able to boast some of the top programs in the Southeastern Conference this year across sports but the off-field success continued as well.

The student-athletes led the SEC in fall GPA for the 10th straight season and has 19 consecutive semesters over a 3.0 but what may be more impressive is the amount of community service hours worked this academic year.

Gamecocks student-athletes worked 11,153 community service hours during the 2015-16 academic year, which led the SEC by over 4,000 hours. On average, each student-athlete volunteered 21 hours of their time.

“We all get excited about our teams and winning games is a big part of athletics,” athletics directory Ray Tanner said. “At the end of the day, it’s about education and developing young people, and I’m very sincere about that. That’s impactful, and very gratifying to see that.”

Many of those hours came during the October floods that caused that caused $12 billion in damages, according to a December report in The State newspaper.

Campus closed for several days, practices were canceled but many teams went out into the community to help with the relief efforts.

“When campus was closed and people vacated, our student-athletes didn’t vacate,” Tanner said. “They continued to try to work out the best way they could to stay in shape, but they also went out into the community. It’s a culture that’s been created and I have to give Erica Nelson a lot of credit for that, the coaches and the student-athletes.”

The volleyball team was the school’s Community Outreach Team of the Year, with an average of 93 hours per student-athlete.

Tanner was able to get out into the community at times as well to watch his student-athletes in action.

“What stands out more than anything is where they are as young people, their leadership skills. When I get a chance to visit and see our student-athletes in those settings, it’s a reflection for me that they’re here now, but in 10 years, they’ll be in roles that will be far-reaching and impacting whatever they’re doing professionally.”

There were a lot of on-field accomplishments this season in South Carolina athletics, but the impact that student-athletes had in the community shouldn’t be ignored.

Source: http://southcarolina.247sports.com/Article/Gamecocks-give-back-to-community-45781188

ENVER, Colo. – The New Mexico State Athletic department proudly placed 75 student-athletes on the 2016 Academic All-Western Athletic Conference and 2015-16 Academic All-WAC Freshman/Transfer team.

“It’s great to see our student-athletes excelling both in competition and in the classroom,” NM State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said. “The ability to balance their academic and athletic time commitments and still compete at the highest levels is a testament to the hard work they put in. Winning the commissioner’s cup for the second consecutive year clearly shows that we have incredible student-athletes at New Mexico State.”

Student-athletes from baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s outdoor track and field.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least one academic year, have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s contests.

The freshman/transfer team consists of student-athletes who completed their first academic year at a WAC institution and met the above requirements from every sport.

The Aggie women’s outdoor track and field team once again paved the way, placing a dozen student-athletes on the 2016 Spring Academic All-WAC list while softball checks in with nine, followed by baseball with seven.

Baseball’s Joseph Koerper was also named to the College Sports Information Director Association’s (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Team for District VII earlier this spring with a 3.83 grade point average in genetics and bio technology.

Women’s soccer placed eight of the 33 student-athletes on the 2015-16 Academic All-WAC Freshman/Transfer list. The women’s outdoor track and field team had six earn the honor while the indoor track and field team had five honored.

On top of their excellence in the classroom, the Aggie student-athletes compiled over 6,500 hours of community service during the 2015-16 academic year.

LOCUST FORK, Ala. (WIAT) – It takes a special kind of tough to play 3A football in Alabama. Teams are talented to go toe-to-toe with bigger schools, but small enough that depth can be a real issue. That’s why during the simmering summer mornings in Locust Fork you’ll see the football team running stadium stairs, flipping tires, and pushing trucks. “It’s crucial because the same guys that play offense and defense have to play special teams too,” said head coach Chris Musso as he watched his team end the day with a light-hearted game of touch football. “They’ll do whatever we ask them to do, and all these guys are good guys. They’re hard workers.”

The hard work has paid off on the field. The Hornets have finished .500 or better each of Musso’s three seasons at the helm after suffering ten consecutive losing seasons from 2003-2012; However, this summer the team is working for more than wins.

Jewel Staton stood on her front porch marveling at the work being done in her yard. “They are just unbelievable in how good they are and how much they are trying to help somebody,” she said behind her dark sunglasses. The elderly woman, who lives just a couple miles from Locust Fork High School, is watching the football team sweat away in her yard. The players are cutting tree limbs, mowing the grass, building a new fence, and even picking blueberries for Mrs. Staton. She is a widow, and Musso has made it a point for his players to perform service projects after practice for someone in need. “The Bible tells you to take care of the orphans and the widows,” said Musso. “So, anytime we can give back and take care of anybody that we can take care of we certainly want to do that.”

Despite the fact that they have already put it more than two hours of work at summer conditioning the players don’t complain. In fact, they seem to have fun with the yard work. “They’re my brothers,” said senior quarterback Chase Rice. “Being out every day in the heat, eventually you develop a bond.”

“We’ll be burning plenty of calories today,” Rice added with a laugh as the summer sun beat down on him as he tore apart a decaying fence.

Mrs. Staton isn’t the first window to benefit from the Hornets’ hard work. The players on the team that also play basketball performed a similar project Wednesday before leaving for a camp at the University of Alabama. The team did their best to make her feel like the most important person in the world while they were there. Every student-athlete introduced themselves to her and littered the air with “Yes ma’am,” and “No ma’am,” as they tried to meet the high standards her husband always took with his yard. “I like it done the right way,” she said with a tired smile. She looked back at the dozen or so players working diligently on her fence and thought about her husband. “He would love it,” she said. “He would enjoy being out here seeing it done.”

Source: http://wiat.com/2016/06/24/practice-and-service-projects-locust-fork-football-team-gives-back/

MacArthur High School’s Autism Awareness Committee, under the direction of co-advisers Vin Causeman and Robert Schimpf, presented the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter of the Autism Society of America with a $7,500 check to fund and support the organization’s family programming. The bulk of the donations was raised through the sale of autism awareness T-shirts, designed by student Thomas O’Mara, for the school’s Day of Awareness. The Key Club also donated $500 through ticket sales for a skate-a-thon this past April.

NSASA President Suzanne Reck said the money is earmarked for Long Island events that afford families the chance to participate in activities that would otherwise be difficult without the support of the Autism Society of America. “MacArthur High School has raised more money than any other school on Long Island,” she noted. “This supportive school community has helped a lot of people. The simple things you can do, these students and families cannot do.”

Photo Caption: On behalf of the MacArthur High School Autism Awareness Committee, co-adviser Vin Causeman handed a donation to Nassau/Suffolk Chapter Autism Society of America President Suzanne Reck.

Photo courtesy of the Levittown School District