Courtesy of UMBC Athletic Communications
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. -- The
UMBC women’s lacrosse team was named the Division I recipient of the
Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) 2008 Team
Community Awareness Award, the organization announced last month. The
Retrievers were presented with the award at the IWLCA Convention in December.
The purpose of the Team Community Awareness Award is to
recognize an entire team that has contributed significantly to its community.
One team in each NCAA division is recognized.
The women’s lacrosse team has been one of UMBC’s most active
squads in the community, winning the Retriever Cup for community service at
UMBC’s annual varsity awards banquet last May.
During the 2007-08 school year, the women’s lacrosse team
raised more than $6,000 for various charities. The Retrievers volunteered at
the U.S. Lacrosse Phone-a-thon, raising money to help introduce lacrosse
programs in new areas of the country. In addition, the student-athletes
participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s annual Light the Night Walk
in Annapolis, Md.; Lee National Denim Day to raise breast cancer awareness; and
a bake sale for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
The Retrievers also donated more than 200 hours of their
time to the Ride with Pride Program at the Maryland Council for Special
Equestrians, assisting trainers in horseback riding lessons for children with
disabilities.
The Retrievers again volunteered at the U.S. Lacrosse
Phone-a-thon in the fall of 2008, as well as at the Maryland Food Bank,
assisting with the packaging and distribution of donated food to local shelters
and people in need. They also ran in the Race for the Cure and sold
Passionately Pink pins, both benefitting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation.
In addition, the Retrievers filled shoeboxes with holiday
gifts for children in need around the world as part of Operation Christmas
Child, run by Samaritan’s Purse, and also donated the team’s travel and stick
bags to the Washington Inner City Lacrosse Foundation (WINNERS Lacrosse), a
non-profit organization that provides youth from historically underserved
neighborhoods in the Washington metropolitan area the opportunity to learn the
game of lacrosse.