Volunteers from the NCAA and American Football Coaches Association joined Habitat for Humanity to pre-build a home for the Gulf Coast in the days leading up to the Division   I-AA Football Championship game December 16 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The home was an Operation Home Delivery “Habitat home in a box,” which was fully framed in Chattanooga and then shipped to a location on the Gulf Coast for final construction. Construction began on the morning before the title game and was completed by game time the following day.

In addition to Habitat for Humanity and NCAA staff, volunteers on the project included student-athletes; Chancellor Roger Brown and staff from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; University of Tennessee, Knoxville, football coach Phil Fulmer; and AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff.

“Coaches and their teams are aware they are role models, and they are conscientious about giving back to the community through charitable activities, which are the reasons the AFCA is participating in the project,” Teaff said.

The Chattanooga project was the latest development in the “Home Team” partnership between Habitat for Humanity and the NCAA that began in September with a $1 million lead gift from Division II and a $500,000 matching gift from the national office. The partnership will provide donations through additional fund-raising and volunteers for the long-term rebuilding effort on the Gulf Coast.

Mercyhurst disaster drill puts personnel at the ready

What would happen if a section of bleachers collapsed during an athletics competition? Mercyhurst College’s Tim Harvey put that scenario to the test after applying for and receiving a grant from the Pennsylvania Campus Compact for the purpose of funding individual courses to help prepare students for community disasters.

Harvey, an athletic training instructor in the school’s sports medicine department, staged the disaster drill as part of an emergency athletics injury management course. While acknowledging that in a real emergency, athletic training personnel would have little to no involvement in response efforts, Harvey said he wanted students to be prepared for a disaster and noted that athletic training students and staff may be able to initiate critical early treatment before emergency personnel arrive on the scene. A secondary purpose of the drill was to test the college’s emergency-response plan.

“Athletic training staff and students might be pushed out after, say, the first 15 minutes, but I can’t tell you how many people they might be able to save,” said Harvey.

As part of the demonstration, a section of wooden bleachers was built in a collapsed position and 37 of the about 100 participants were made up to appear injured. Others were divided into rescue teams. While the drill was completed in an hour and a half, Harvey said in a true emergency situation, it would take six to seven hours to clear such a scene.

In pulling the drill together, Harvey relied on the assistance of about 20 agencies, including the local police, fire and sheriff’s departments; ambulance services; and the American Red Cross disaster relief. He also developed a timeline describing how the response effort would unfold from initial response times to when a secondary response center would be established.

 In Midwest Conference, two plus two equals four

In perusing the list of first-team all-Midwest Conference women’s soccer honorees, fans will notice that a couple names appear twice. It is not a misprint. Amy and Abby Horneck of Monmouth College (Illinois) and Rachel and Kara Moskowitz of Grinnell College are not just two sets of sisters. The pairs also are identical twins. That’s not all the four seniors share. Days after earning first team all-conference honors, the four also picked up academic all-conference recognition.

Amy Horneck holds 10 women’s soccer records at Monmouth and is the first academic all-American from the school since 1990. Three-time academic all-conference selection Abby Horneck established the school mark for career matches played with 62. The Horneck sisters also star on the track team.

At Grinnell, Rachel Moskowitz is the school’s all-time leader in assists with 46 and has been a member of two Midwest Conference championship squads. Her sister Kara, a three-time academic all-conference pick, has contributed 14 goals, nine assists and 37 points in her career.