National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
« back to 2007 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index
Long-distance e-mail helps Kean go the distance
|
By Leilana McKindra
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
The night before the Kean University baseball team was set to play for the Division III national championship, head coach Neil Ioviero was up checking e-mail. What he read in one message left him humbled.
It was a note of encouragement from former Kean baseball and football student-athlete Robert G. Golden III, a colonel in the Marines currently stationed in Korea. In the message, Golden said he had been watching his alma mater advance through the Division III championship via live video streaming offered on NCAAsports.com.
Golden, who has followed Kean athletics closely since graduating in 1984, told Ioviero he was motivated watching the team’s progress, and he congratulated Ioviero and the team for elevating the university’s recognition through their outstanding play. “When you win the national championship,” Golden wrote, “please send me a ball signed by the greatest team in Kean history.”
“I read his e-mail at about 2 a.m.,” said Ioviero. “I couldn’t believe someone who was defending our nation took the time to watch it — moreover e-mail me about it. It was absolutely humbling.”
Ioviero read the letter to the team before the game and stressed that whether the student-athletes won or lost, the number of people they had touched was remarkable. “The kids got a lot out of it and it was extremely motivating,” said Ioviero. “I heard one player say ‘if you can’t get up to play after hearing that, then you don’t belong.’ ”
As it turns out, Golden will get his autographed baseball. The Cougars edged Emory University, 5-4, in 10 innings to secure the program’s first and university’s second national title.
“It is extremely motivating to see little-known Kean University get some much-deserved national recognition,” said Golden.
The two met Brenda Taliaferro, a diabetic who is in a wheelchair, and her son, Dominic, in January through a community-service project sponsored by IMPACT (Impacting People as Christ Taught), an umbrella group for a handful of LeTourneau student organizations to which the student-athletes belong. Kaye was part of a crew that raked the Taliaferros’ yard. It was clear, said the junior biology major, that the house was in critical disrepair. She later learned in fact that it had been condemned.
The students, who began visiting the Taliaferros regularly, wanted to help and spent several months brainstorming ways to do so before Doug Wilcoxson, vice president of student affairs at LeTourneau, suggested building the family a new home. “We just started pursuing different avenues and doors started flinging wide open,” said Kaye. “Anything we prayed for, literally as soon as we were done, the phone would start ringing.”
On Good Friday weekend, nearly 100 students, faculty and staff, and a large group of volunteers from a local church and the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity launched the Jehovah Jireh project with a goal of rebuilding the Taliaferros’ home.
Much of the total cost of the five-week project — estimated at $90,000, including materials, labor and furnishings — was donated by local businesses and individuals.
A release from the school said a recent attempt to move to a lottery format for student season tickets “was met with student opposition that many believed was the most swift and comprehensive response to school policy in decades.”
Greg Myford, Penn State associate athletics director for marketing and communications, said, “It’s nearly impossible to overestimate our students’ passion for the game experience and their role with what happens on the field.”
It was a note of encouragement from former Kean baseball and football student-athlete Robert G. Golden III, a colonel in the Marines currently stationed in Korea. In the message, Golden said he had been watching his alma mater advance through the Division III championship via live video streaming offered on NCAAsports.com.
Golden, who has followed Kean athletics closely since graduating in 1984, told Ioviero he was motivated watching the team’s progress, and he congratulated Ioviero and the team for elevating the university’s recognition through their outstanding play. “When you win the national championship,” Golden wrote, “please send me a ball signed by the greatest team in Kean history.”
“I read his e-mail at about 2 a.m.,” said Ioviero. “I couldn’t believe someone who was defending our nation took the time to watch it — moreover e-mail me about it. It was absolutely humbling.”
Ioviero read the letter to the team before the game and stressed that whether the student-athletes won or lost, the number of people they had touched was remarkable. “The kids got a lot out of it and it was extremely motivating,” said Ioviero. “I heard one player say ‘if you can’t get up to play after hearing that, then you don’t belong.’ ”
As it turns out, Golden will get his autographed baseball. The Cougars edged Emory University, 5-4, in 10 innings to secure the program’s first and university’s second national title.
“It is extremely motivating to see little-known Kean University get some much-deserved national recognition,” said Golden.
LeTourneau players score big for family
LeTourneau University soccer student-athletes Karisa Kaye and Jonathan Wilcoxson helped spearhead an effort that netted a Longview, Texas, family a new house.The two met Brenda Taliaferro, a diabetic who is in a wheelchair, and her son, Dominic, in January through a community-service project sponsored by IMPACT (Impacting People as Christ Taught), an umbrella group for a handful of LeTourneau student organizations to which the student-athletes belong. Kaye was part of a crew that raked the Taliaferros’ yard. It was clear, said the junior biology major, that the house was in critical disrepair. She later learned in fact that it had been condemned.
The students, who began visiting the Taliaferros regularly, wanted to help and spent several months brainstorming ways to do so before Doug Wilcoxson, vice president of student affairs at LeTourneau, suggested building the family a new home. “We just started pursuing different avenues and doors started flinging wide open,” said Kaye. “Anything we prayed for, literally as soon as we were done, the phone would start ringing.”
On Good Friday weekend, nearly 100 students, faculty and staff, and a large group of volunteers from a local church and the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity launched the Jehovah Jireh project with a goal of rebuilding the Taliaferros’ home.
Much of the total cost of the five-week project — estimated at $90,000, including materials, labor and furnishings — was donated by local businesses and individuals.
Penn State students feed football frenzy
Pennsylvania State University students bought more than 21,000 season football tickets in a record 59-minute span June 7. Officials said the previous record was 13 days last year, using a combination of online sales and applications that were mailed to the athletics ticket office.A release from the school said a recent attempt to move to a lottery format for student season tickets “was met with student opposition that many believed was the most swift and comprehensive response to school policy in decades.”
Greg Myford, Penn State associate athletics director for marketing and communications, said, “It’s nearly impossible to overestimate our students’ passion for the game experience and their role with what happens on the field.”
© 2010 The National Collegiate Athletic Association
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy