Winthrop Wins Kallander Cup Challenge For 4th Straight Year

Quick Facts

Winthrop Athletics has won the Big South Conference Kallander Cup Challenge for the fourth year in a row.

Athletes completed nearly 3,200 hours of various community service projects.

Efforts during the 2011-12 year focused on the project with the York County Boys & Girls Club that culminated with Eagle Week during the local school districts' spring break.

Kallander Cup presentation

ROCK HILL, S.C. - For a fourth consecutive year, Winthrop Athletics has been declared the winner of the Big South Conference Kallander Cup Challenge for completing nearly 3,200 hours of various community service projects during the 2011-12 academic year including a year-long project with the York County Boys and Girls Club.

Over the past year each member institution's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) participated in various community service projects on and around their respective campuses. Each SAAC group presented their initiatives at the 7th annual Leadership Conference which was held earlier this month in Black Mountain, NC, and was attended by 47 student leaders from around the Big South Conference who voted Winthrop the winner of the Kallander Cup.

"I am very proud of our student-athletes,” said Winthrop Athletic Director Tom Hickman. “Once again they have demonstrated their commitment of service to others. To be voted the winner of the Kallander Cup for the fourth year in a row is quite an achievement, and this accomplishment further demonstrates that our student-athletes are great examples of the conference's motto of 'Developing Leaders Through Athletics.' This award represents the good that comes from college athletics that often times gets overlooked and not reported in the media,” he said.

The Winthrop SAAC's efforts during the 2011-12 year focused on the project with the York County Boys & Girls Club that culminated with Eagle Week during the local school districts' spring break. During Eagle Week, SAAC hosted 100 Boys & Girls club campers for the all-day, all week events. Winthrop's SAAC also donated two “stores” to the clubs at Northside Recreation Center and Riverview Elementary School that served as a rewards program for Character Education.

“Working with the Boys and Girls Club of York County was probably my favorite SAAC project during my Winthrop career,” said women's softball player Carole Reda. “It was great to see every athletic team contribute to the project and share an amazing week with the Boys and Girls Club kids. Having the opportunity to create and follow through tremendously with our own service project really showed the dedication and commitment of our student athletes and the pride we take in helping others.”

"I am extremely proud of the service that our student-athletes continue to provide to our community,” said Norma McDuffie, Winthrop's SAAC advisor and senior woman administrator. “Our Student-Athlete Advisory Council and student-athletes spent many hours organizing projects and volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club this year, and we look forward to continuing this partnership."

McDuffie says the Winthrop Athletic department and SAAC would like to thank Enterprise-Rent-A-Car Foundation for its generous support of their service projects.

The Big South Conference SAAC created the Kallander Cup in 2006-07 to engage student-athletes from all Big South member institutions in a year-long fundraising competition for the benefit of a selected charity. Past beneficiaries include the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Samaritan's Feet, Soap for Souls and local school systems. Past winners of the Kallander Cup are Liberty University (2007, 2008) and Winthrop (2009, 2010, 2011).

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