UMBC

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.