UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Playing an impactful role in the community is a responsibility Penn State’s athletic programs do not take lightly.

The 31 varsity teams take incredible pride in efforts that make a difference in avenues outside of the competition field. As representatives of the athletic department, the student-athletes understand the importance of influencing those in many different facets of life. And the groups are able to use their placement in the community as a conduit to helping others.

Through a wide-range of activities with organizations and groups of all ages, Penn State’s approximately 800 student-athletes performed more than 5,300 hours of community service in 2014-15. The total number of hours created an average of nearly seven hours of service for each student-athlete this past year.

“I’ve been so impressed with the service and servant’s hearts that our student-athletes and programs have,” stated Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour. “There are so many quality ways in which our student-athletes engage with the community and serve as mentors. It’s such a great environment and lesson for our student-athletes. When we give, we’re the ones who receive and I think our student-athletes are learning those lessons through their great work in the community.”

Five Penn State teams completed an average of more than 15 community service hours per student-athlete. The women’s gymnastics team headlines the list with 35.33 community service hours per student on the team. The women’s golf team completed 26.27 hours per student and the women’s basketball squad completed 20.67 hours per student. The football (15.51) and wrestling (15.07) squads also completed more than 15 hours of community service per student-athlete this past year.

In total, 11 different Penn State teams completed more than 100 total hours of community service. The Nittany Lion football team completed more than 2,200 total community service hours.

At the 28th Annual SAAB Academic Achievement Awards Banquet last spring, the CHAMPS Cup Awards for community outreach were presented for the 10th time. Claiming the small teams (20 or fewer on roster) award was the women’s gymnastics team. The large teams (20 or more on roster) award went to the Nittany Lion football team’s defensive unit.

“Being involved in the community is something that is very important to our program,” said John Gondak, head coach of the track and field and cross country programs. “We have one of the largest teams on campus – more than 100 student-athletes – and the experiences they gain being out in the community help them grow as individuals, helps our team grow by working together and also helps the community in so many different ways.”

The theme across Intercollegiate Athletics is that while none of the community service activities are mandatory, the student-athletes, coaches and staff members never bypass the chance to help out. The department strives to create comprehensive success across every aspect of the college experience for its students. Community service is a big piece to that puzzle.

“It’s so important because there is such a need for our student-athletes to be great mentors,” said field hockey head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss. “To give back to the community is so important, and to create that connection between the community and the student-athletes here at Penn State is really important. Our team is doing a great job academically, so they are excellent role models when we meet with young individuals in the community.”

The activity in the community from Penn State’s student-athletes is directly aligned with the University’s service culture. Each February, Penn State Athletics plays an integral part in THON, the largest student run philanthropy in the world. Since 1977, THON has raised more than $127 million for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. Several student-athletes participate in the dance marathon, in addition to teams hosting THON outreach events, such as the Penn State Football THON Explorers program where more than 50 THON children tour the Lasch Football Building.

Community service is a meaningful part of Penn State Athletics and the mission of all 31 teams on campus. Creating a bond between the athletic department’s 800 student-athletes and different sectors of the community is a significant piece to creating a world-class experience on the University Park campus. And with more than 5,300 hours of service completed in the past year, Penn State teams are leaving their mark on so much more than the success in competition arenas.

Story courtesy of Penn State Athletics http://www.gopsusports.com/

Western Illinois University student-athletes and members of the Sodexo staff recently helped out Macomb-area social service agencies with their Summer Weekend Lunch community program. According to Pete Tarantola, an alumnus of the WIU Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration graduate program, a group of churches, social service agencies and volunteers in the Macomb community have been providing two sack lunches every weekend this summer (one for Saturday, one for Sunday) to area children.

Tarantola, who is the director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Warren and McDonough Counties, said the program was started to help offset some of the social service-funding cuts in Illinois and is completely volunteer based.

On three different Fridays this summer, student athletes on WIU’s football and volleyball teams, as well as Sodexo staff (who provide University Dining Services), volunteered to help make the lunches for distribution to the kids.

“So far, we have been able to help 56 kids. We are thrilled to have Western students and members of Sodexo’s staff help us out with this weekend lunch program,” Tarantola said. “Sodexo staff went one step further and donated food for the program, as well.”

For more information, contact Tarantola at (309) 837-5437 or via email at ptarantola@bbbs-mv.org.

Read more at: http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=12777

UDC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Raises Over $300 for Make-A-Wish Through Penny War Fundraiser; Men’s Lacrosse Wins Team Contest

The University of the District of Columbia Student-Athlete Advisory Committee raised $343.43 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through its “Penny Wars” fundraiser in the month of April. Men’s Lacrosse was the winner of the team contest.

The contest pit each UDC sports team in friendly competition against each other (women’s cross country and indoor and outdoor track counting as one team and men’s and women’s tennis paired together as another) with each team trying to collect pennies in its respective jar and discard silver change and dollar bills in other teams’ jars. Pennies counted as positive points (+1 per penny) while silver change and dollar bills were negative points in accordance with their monetary worth (nickels were -5 points, dimes -10, $1 bill -100, etc.).

With many generous donations made in dollar amounts, men’s lacrosse was the only team with a total point value on the positive side, as the 2nd year program won the competition with a value of +$0.12.

The funds were donated to the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic Chapter on June 10, 2015. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions throughout central and southern Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Since 1983, the organization has enriched the lives of 8,300 local children through its wish-granting work.

For every wish the Mid-Atlantic Chapter grants, there are at least two local children waiting to receive their wishes. UDC’s donation will help the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic Chapter continue granting the wishes of local children.

To learn more please visit: http://www.udcfirebirds.com/sports/mlax/2014-15/releases/20150626ahyg12

Alfred University’s intercollegiate athletic teams enjoyed unprecedented success in competition in 2014-15, but also excelled in the classroom while making a positive inpact on the local community.

The AU Department of Athletics recently released its spring 2015 academic report, which showed significant improvements over the 2014-15 academic year. The University’s 17 NCAA-affiliated sports teams logged a combined cumulative grade-point average of 3.008 for spring 2015, up from the combined GPA of 2.991 posted after the Fall 2014 semester.

Paul Vecchio, director of athletics, has set the department-wide GPA goal at 3.0. Nine of the Saxons’ 17 NCAA teams eclipsed that benchmark in 2014-15, led by women’s tennis, with a team GPA of 3.72. Men’s soccer had the highest men’s team GPA, at 3.31.

Other teams with a GPA of 3.0 or higher were: women’s volleyball (3.26), women’s soccer (3.24), women’s swimming and diving (3.20), women’s track and field (3.12), softball (3.08), women’s cross country (3.04), and men’s basketball (3.03).

Men’s tennis was the most improved team from the Fall 2014 to Spring 20156 semester, while women’s tennis was the most improved among female sports.

Several teams also showed marked improvement in the percentage of their respective rosters to earn individual academic honors. The athletic department recognizes students with Saxon Scholar honors for having a GPA between 3.20 and 3.49, while Dean’s List recognition is afforded to students with a GPA between 3.50 and 3.74. The highest academic honor, the Empire 8 Conference President’s List, is given to those with a GPA of 3.75 or higher.

Alfred’s academic report references 17 NCAA-affiliated teams — men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s cross country; football; men’s and women’s lacrosse; men’s and women’s track and field (the report combines indoor and outdoor squads into one team); men’s and women’s swimming and diving; men’s and women’s tennis; men’s and women’s soccer; softball; and women’s volleyball – with a combined 408 student-athletics. For 2014-15, 146 student-athletics earned academic honors, or 36 percent of total of 408 student athletes competing in NCAA-sponsored teams.

AU also offers four non-NCAA intercollegiate sports: men’s and women’s Alpine skiing and Western and English equestrian (both co-ed). When the academic achievements of the 68 student-athletes on those teams are added, that number jumps to 38 percent. The combined 2014-15 GPA of all student-athletes, when skiing and equestrian is included, was 3.044.

Several AU student-athletes earned noteworthy individual accolades. Men’s soccer senior Jeff Thomas (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua), football junior Michael Berardi (Wellsville, NY/Wellsville) and softball junior Dana Torchia (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) earned College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA)/Capital One Academic All-District honors, while two members of the men’s swimming and diving team – seniors Joseph Rogers (Dublin, NH) and David Coombes (Dansville, NY/Dansville) – earned Scholar All-American honors from the from the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

In addition, men’s soccer (from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America) and women’s swimming and diving (from the CSCAA) earned national academic team honors.

“The recognition afforded our student-athletes by CoSIDA, the NSCAA and the CSCAA is a microcosm of the outstanding efforts our student-athletes have made in exhibiting excellence both on and off the field,” said Vecchio. “The success of such a large percentage of our student-athletes academically, particularly at a University with the academic rigor of AU, is a great point of pride for our department.”

Student-athletes’ academic improvement can be attributed in part to the Life Skills Coordinator position created at the beginning of the 2014-15 year. The position, made possible by support from AU alumni Russ Fahey ’58, his wife Pat, and Kristin Klabin ’93 and her husband, Alex, was held by Jake Spadoni, a 2013 AU graduate and former men’s lacrosse All-American.

gSpadoni, who also served as a lacrosse graduate assistant coach the last two years, graduated in May with a master’s degree in literacy education. Vecchio described the Life Skills Coordinator position as a “direct liaison to our first-year student-athletes,” helping them adjust to the rigors of being a collegiate student-athlete. Among Spadoni’s duties were helping new students in managing their time and directing them to available resources to assist them in their studies.

“The work that Jake did in concert with our coaching staff led to a significant reduction of students on academic probation in 2014-15 while aiding our retention efforts significantly,” Vecchio said. “I look forward to this program growing and further creating a major impact on our retention and academic success rates in the future.”

Student-athletes were also active in the University and local communities, logging approximately 1,300 community service hours. Seven teams – men’s basketball, football, men’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, softball, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball – completed community service projects in 2014-15, with a total of 241 student-athletes contributing an average of 5.4 hours of service.

The AU student-athletes’ success in classroom coincides with what was a banner year for Saxon teams. Alfred teams finished in the top four in the Empire 8 Conference standings in six sports, with a school-record four – men’s soccer, women’s tennis, men’s basketball and softball — competing in their respective championship tournaments. Softball would win their E8 tournament, while men’s basketball was runner-up. Two other AU teams – men’s tennis and men’s lacrosse – finished among the top four in the league standings, but missed out on berths in their respective conference tournaments due to tiebreakers.

Saxon teams competing in sports sponsored by the Empire 8 finished sixth in the Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings, the best ever for AU in the 16-year history of the conference. The Commissioner’s Cup rankings are determined by how teams finish in the league standings of each Empire 8-sponsored sport.

Vecchio noted the athletics program at AU strives to create excellence not only in competition, but also in the classroom and in the community. The program’s record of achievement in 2014-15 shows student-athletes and their coaches are attaining many of those goals.

“In 2014-15 our student-athletes excelled in the three areas that share our focus equally: academic performance, athletic prowess and making an impact on both our campus and community,” Vecchio commented. “Our coaching staff has provided excellent leadership to our student-athletes to excel in these three critical areas and I am incredibly proud of the fact that we had our finest year from a competitive standpoint in our 16-year association with the Empire 8 while not missing a beat in our other commitments.”

– See more at: http://www.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?ID=11449#sthash.gD7AmR5E.dpuf

The founder of Samaritan’ Feet International, Manny Ohonme, played basketball at Lake Region State College and met his wife, Tracie, in Devils Lake. So as part of the nationwide Samaritan’s Feet 2015 Back to School program, LRSC held a distribution event for the second year in a row at Peace Lutheran Church to equip students in need of new shoes.

A registered number of 250 children received new shoes and had their feet washed. Royal student athletes were a big part of the event.

“It’s a very special experience,” LRSC athletic director Danny Mertens said. “It’s one of those heartwarming things. We take everything for granted. Something that’s so small like putting a pair of shoes on a 3-6-year-old. It’s good for us to give back to the committee. We have to get involved and this is a great way to do that.”

The 250 shoes given out was up from 160 last year. Next year, as the 75th anniversary of the school, Mertens said his goal is to hand out 750 pairs of shoes to kids in need.

They will collect shoes at the LRSC volleyball game against Bottineau on Sept. 21. Shoe collection will also take place during the basketball season at a home game where the coaches will be barefoot.

Regional coordinator Denise Blomberg pointed to Devils Lake as being a great community to support the program. Some drove 45 miles for the event.

And watching the student athletes come together to help out was special.

“To see the quantity of student-athletes from Lake Region is nothing less than amazing,” Blomberg said. “The leadership at the school, them using their platform to draw awareness for what we do is so evident in them

wanting to bring their players in.”

Since its founding by Ohonme in 2003, Samaritan’s Feet and its team of ambassadors and partners have blessed more than 6.5 million children in more than 75 nations. For more information about Samaritan’s Feet
International, visit www.SamaritansFeet.org.

Source: http://www.devilslakejournal.com/article/20150818/NEWS/150819107