ANNUAL REPORT FISCAL YEAR 2017
CONTENTS • AD Address/Letter • Academic Integrity • Rules Compliance • Facility Enhancements • Events Hosted • Financial Prudence • Significant Accomplishments • Student-Athlete Well-Being/ Success
Dear Bear Nation, The 2016-17 academic year was again an outstanding year for Central Arkansas Athletics. We accomplished many great initiatives and maintained our increased graduation rates. Student-Athletes graduate 15 percentage points higher than the general student body which is a metric the NCAA reviews closely. It puts UCA in a great position. At UCA, we embrace the NCAA DI principles of Academic Integrity, Rules and Governance, Financial Prudence, and Student-Athlete Well-being. These characteristics shape our program as we excel at providing a great place to live, learn, and compete. UCA is a total package program. We succeed in academics, socially, and life skills; while winning championships. Our goal is to provide a wonderful educational experience for our student-athletes which is further enhanced through athletics success. The fondest memories come from our great teams and programs. We want all to have that experience. As we enter our 12th year in Division I, our image continues to be very important to our success. Through our branding, facilities, and media; our image is impacted. We will ensure our image elicits a perception of a first-class program. We have been successful due to our re-branding of our logos and trademarks. We have been successful due to our abundant facility improvements since our move to Division I. We have been successful due to our forethought in social media and communications. We have been successful due to our staff creativity and innovation. UCA Athletics is committed to providing a rewarding student-athlete experience, an enjoyable fan/donor experience, and a professional and classy image. We will do this while contributing to the university’s educational experiences. UCA Athletics cherishes the role it plays on this great educational campus of UCA. We are also dedicated to Academic Vitality, Integrity, and Diversity (AVID), furthering the values and mission of the University of Central Arkansas. Go Bears!
Brad Teague, Ph. D. Director of Athletics
At the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year, the athletics department administrative staff engaged in a dialogue to focus on our mission. From the session, our staff developed core values and guiding principles for the department. These values and principles truly describe our work and our plan to be the best Division I program. Our decisions are scripted by these and we strive to do what is right and true for all.
CORE VALUES 1. Student-Athlete Success 2. Excellence 3. Accountability 4. Innovation 5. Collegiality GUIDING PRINCIPLES 1. Student-Athlete Experience 2. Fan/Donor Experience 3. Image
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Athletics programs utilize several metrics to evaluate the success of their student-athletes in academics. Grade Point Average (GPA), Graduation Success Rate (GSR), Federal Graduation Rate (FGR), Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Completed Athletics Eligibility Graduation Rate (CEGR) are all part of the evaluation system. As detailed below, UCA has improved significantly in most categories below. UCA student-athletes saw a major jump in FGR in 2015, 20 percentage points ahead of the general student body.
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 GPA Women
3.02 3.03 3.11 3.17 3.16 3.18 3.19 3.28 3.28 3.32 3.35
Men
2.74 2.75 2.73 2.78 2.79 2.82 2.88 2.87 2.88 2.96 2.98
Total
2.77 2.85 2.87 2.92 2.94 2.98 3.02 3.04 3.04 3.10 3.14
GSR Women
76% 77% 79% 90% 86% 95% 82% 83% 73% 81% 89%
Men
48% 49% 52% 62% 68% 75% 67% 66% 69% 70% 73%
Total
55% 57% 61% 73% 74% 81% 73% 72% 74% 75% 80%
FGR Women
58% 56% 60% 61% 55% 58% 50% 49% 66% 60% 64%
Men
35% 50% 39% 41% 50% 43% 43% 42% 65% 56% 49%
Total
48% 54% 49% 51% 53% 50% 47% 46% 65% 58% 56%
All Students 45% 43% 41% 41% 42% 41% 41% 41% 45% 45% 42% APR Women
929 956 947 979 960 980 973 978 969 980 988
Men
902 919 938 955 957 958 944 949 963 965 962
Total
914 933 941 966 959 966 956 961 965 970 973
CEGR Total 93% 93% 96% 100% 94% 99% 97%
COMPLIANCE & FACILITIES
COMPLIANCE 1. The most important part of Compliance is that all individuals associated with UCA Athletics promote and support the interest of the athletic department to ensure full compliance with NCAA, Southland Conference and University Rules. 2. Increased rules education and updates to coaches, staff, boosters, and student-athletes. These updates occur in a variety of ways from face to face, email blasts, website notices, and individual meetings with coaches or student athletes. 3. Conversion to e-filing system for all student-athlete records. 4. Financial Aid will enter student-athlete data without the assistance of athletics staff. 5. Implementation of JumpForward to make tracking many aspects of Compliance simpler for coaches as well as the compliance office. This year will add the component of all the preseason NCAA paperwork to JumpForward which will help make the beginning-of-year meetings with Student-Athletes more productive. 6. Reorganizing departmental manuals over the summer to make them complete and more user friendly. 7. Compliance staff and general counsel will continue semi-annual meetings.
FACILITY ENHANCEMENTS
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS HOSTING
1. Beach Volleyball courts completed & opened for competition 2. Bathroom/concession area for softball/track/ soccer complex & fencing around softball complex completed 3. Covered batting cages for baseball completed and utilized during 2017 season 4. New lights in indoor facility installed summer 2017 5. Hall of Fame Room carpet replaced with stained concrete 6. Storage building for track & field program constructed 7. Construction of weight room in Farris Center, to be completed Fall 2017 8. Addition of Michael & Maria Norvell Nutrition Center in strength & conditioning center 9. Nutters Chapel Golf hitting/putting center reconfigured, completed Fall 2017
1. Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament Fall 2016 2. Southland Conference Softball Tournament Spring 2017 3. Arkansas Activities Association All-Star Week (includes all-star games for football; boys & girls basketball and soccer; baseball; softball; cheer and dance)
FINANCIAL PRUDENCE
PURPLE CIRCLE ANNUAL FUND UCA Athletics has a strong fundraising arm in the Purple Circle. During the move to Division I, the fund grew over 400%. Membership is strong at 350 members and over $300,000 annually is contributed to the fund.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS Through the arrangement with Peak Sports MGMT/UCA Sports Properties, corporate partnerships have continued to rise as the Central Arkansas brand has maintained a steady rate of growth and visibility throughout the region, and corporate partners have realized an increase in value in their relationship with Central Arkansas Athletics.
BUDGET UCA & UCA Athletics are committed to reducing the amount of state funding for Athletics while increasing the amount of external funding from ticket sales, fundraising, corporate sponsorships, and NCAA Revenue. This trend is demonstrated below. Revenue Student Fees Auxiliaries E&G External Funds Federal
Expenses Salaries & Fringes Scholarships Travel M&O Debt Service Medical Federal Facilities Other
FY18
FY17
FY16
FY15
FY14
FY13
$ 5,276,000 41% $ 2,994,868 24% $ 1,304,748 10% $ 3,003,810 24% $ 138,000 1% $ 12,717,426 100%
$ 5,276,000 43% $ 3,008,038 24% $ 1,272,925 10% $ 2,697,760 22% $ 126,000 1% $ 12,380,723 100%
$ 5,000,000 43% $ 2,800,000 24% $ 1,000,000 9% $ 2,700,000 23% $ 126,000 1% $ 11,626,000 100%
$ 5,000,000 44% $ 2,675,777 23% $ 1,000,000 9% $ 2,600,000 23% $ 126,000 1% $ 11,401,777 100%
$ 4,838,092 43% $ 2,783,324 25% $ 1,000,000 9% $ 2,507,764 22% $ 113,877 1% $ 11,243,057 100%
$ 4,913,412 48% $ 1,563,989 15% $ 1,069,387 10% $ 2,595,295 25% $ 98,830 1% $ 10,240,913 100%
$ 3,977,960 31% $ 4,334,120 34% $ 1,718,023 14% $ 1,156,432 9% $ 674,696 5% $ 150,000 1% $ 138,000 1% $ 485,292 4% $ 82,903 1% $ 12,717,426 100%
$ 3,830,954 31% $ 4,067,092 33% $ 1,678,750 14% $ 1,130,526 9% $ 631,901 5% $ 150,000 1% $ 126,000 1% $ 435,500 4% $ 330,000 3% $ 12,380,723 100%
$ 3,650,007 31% $ 3,555,493 31% $ 1,454,500 13% $ 1,160,000 10% $ 600,000 5% $ 200,000 2% $ 126,000 1% $ 550,000 5% $ 330,000 3% $ 11,626,000 100%
$ 3,600,000 32% $ 3,485,777 31% $ 1,410,000 12% $ 1,100,000 10% $ 600,000 5% $ 200,000 2% $ 126,000 1% $ 550,000 5% $ 330,000 3% $ 11,401,777 100%
$ 3,520,742 31% $ 3,351,709 30% $ 1,409,150 13% $ 1,100,300 10% $ 628,604 6% $ 245,461 2% $ 113,877 1% $ 544,740 5% $ 328,474 3% $ 11,243,057 100%
$ 2,984,717 29% $ 3,185,815 31% $ 1,399,948 14% $ 935,785 9% $ 406,235 4% $ 153,408 1% $ 98,830 1% $ 600,785 6% $ 475,391 5% $ 10,240,914 100%
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ACADEMICS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
For 2016-17, 218 Central Arkansas student-athletes were named to the Southland Commissioner’s Honor Roll – 3rd highest among the 13 Southland institutions. Over the past two seasons, the Bears & Sugar Bears have had nearly 450 named to the Honor Roll, which requires a cumulative GPA of 3.0.
The Sugar Bears followed a historical season in 2015-16 with another in 2016-17, winning both a Southland Conference regular season championship and tournament championship in the same season for the first time.
Of the 218 named to this year’s Commissioner’s Honor Roll, 44 maintained perfect 4.0 GPAs, up again – this time by 19 percent – after a 16 percent increase in 2016. It was the 2nd highest total of 4.0 GPAs among the Southland universities. UCA student-athletes turned in their best total GPA yet, coming it at 3.14 overall with both the women (3.35) and men (2.98) having their highest marks yet. It is the 5th straight year for the department to have an overall GPA of better than 3.0, and the GPA has not dipped in any year since moving to Division I in 2007. The program’s overall APR was also its highest ever at 973, the 4th straight year of improvement. The department also saw its second-best Graduation Success Rate ever at 80%, its 3rd straight year to climb.
NCAA REVENUE Central Arkansas Athletics received its 5th annual installment of NCAA Revenue Sharing. We received the highest distribution of all Southland institutions. The revenue share is based on total number of sports & scholarships awarded as well as NCAA Basketball Tournament distribution. An additional amount is provided for student-athlete well-being and academic success. Last year UCA received $939,024 and this year the total was $941,108.
En route to 26 wins to make them 54-9 over the previous two seasons, the Sugar Bears demolished Stephen F. Austin in the Southland tournament championship game with a 60-35 victory – breaking the tournament record for fewest points allowed in a championship game and scoring the largest margin of victory in a Southland title game since 2010. The victory sent them back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, where they saw their run come to a close at the hands of the Texas Longhorns. Senior Maggie Proffitt was a 1st Team All-Southland selection and was MVP of the Southland tournament, the first time a Sugar Bear has won that award. Junior Kierra Jordan was 3rd team All-Southland, while seniors Raquel Logan and Brianna Mullins were named to the league’s all-defensive team. Junior Taylor Baudoin was also named to the league’s all-tournament team. Mullins and Proffitt were also selected to the Southland All-Academic team for the 3rd consecutive season. In the offseason, Proffitt signed to play professionally overseas, furthering her career this fall in Germany. Sandra Rushing was voted as the Southland’s Coach of the Year, her 2nd Coach of the Year award since coming to Conway in 2012. The Sugar Bears finished 4th in the nation in scoring defense, alllwing just 53.1 points per game, and were 10th in winning percentage – finishing victorious in 83.9 percent of their games.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
FOOTBALL In one of the all-time great seasons in a long line of great seasons in UCA Football history, the Bears won 10 games against Division I competition for the first time – including a 28-23 win at Arkansas State for the program’s 2nd win vs an FBS opponent. The Bears would go on to make their 3rd appearance in the Division I Playoffs, scoring the first playoff win at Estes by defeating Illinois State en route to being one of the final 16 teams left standing, and finished the year ranked 14th in the STATS FCS Top 25 poll. The Bears were 2nd nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 72.8 yards per game on the ground, and were 3rd in Fumbles Recovered (14) and 4th in both Defensive TDs (5) and Tackles for Loss (8.8 per game). Senior wideouts Desmond Smith and Jatavious Wilson concluded record-breaking careers as Smith broke the program record for career receiving yards with 2828 and pass receptions with 226, eclipsing Mike Norvell’s mark of 213; while Wilson shattered the school’s all-purpose yardage record with 5659 – 833 yards above Hosea Knowlton’s record that had stood for 23 years. Wilson also easily eclipsed the program record for Kick Return yards with 2905, nearly 500 more than Isaiah Jackson’s old record and 2nd most in Southland Conference history. Senior defensive back Tyler Williams was the FCS statistical champion for Passes Defended with 2.1 per game. The Bears had 17 players garner All-Southland recognition, with 7 on the first team, 5 on the 2nd team and 5 Honorable Mention.
BASEBALL Made 3rd trip to the championship game of the Southland Conference Tournament in the last 5 years, finishing the season with 34 wins – the 2nd-best total in the program’s Division I history. Had multiple players selected in the MLB Draft for the second time in 5 years, bringing the program’s total to
7 draftees over the last 7 seasons. Junior pitchers Ty Tice and Tyler Gray were selected in the 16th and 20th rounds by the Toronto Blue Jays & Minnesota Twins, respectively. Coach Allen Gum broke the program record for career victories on May 16 as the Bears won the annual Rock ‘n Roar Rivalry vs Little Rock, giving Gum his 210th win as the Central Arkansas skipper. He will enter his 8th season with 215 wins in the purple & gray. Sophomore 1B Hunter Strong and senior SS Brooks Balisterri were named All-Southland, with Strong becoming the program’s 5th First-Team selection and was also named to the league’s All-Defensive team. Strong also went on to be selected to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team. Strong, junior Justin McCarty and senior Brandon Hagerla were named to the league’s All-Academic team. Strong led the Southland and was 8th nationally in doubles with a UCA record 24, while Hagerla led the nation in walks allowed per 9 innings (0.71) and Jansen McCurdy was 2nd in sacrifice bunts per game, logging 16 on the season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL The Bears returned to postseason play in 2017, earning a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament for the second time after tying the program record for Southland wins in a season. Junior guard Jordan Howard had an incredible season both on and off the court, earning a number of honors including Academic All-American, Southland Student-Athlete of the Year and First Team All-Southland Conference. Howard, a digital filmmaking major, has a cumulative 3.8 GPA and was 2nd in the Southland in scoring at 19.5 points per game. Howard led the nation and was 7th nationally in 3pt percentage at 44.5 percent while knocking down a school-record 101 3s for the season, 26th most in the nation and tops in the Southland.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
WOMEN’S SOCCER Had a season for the ages as they claimed their 1st Southland Conference championship, running through the league undefeated with a 10-0-1 mark (the 4th program in league history to go unbeaten in conference in a season), going 15-4-1 overall with a win over Kansas State and sweeping in-state foes Arkansas State, Little Rock and UAPB in non-conference play. Sophomore Cami Bassett was the league’s Player of the Year and Forward of the Year after leading the Southland in goals (13), points (30) and game-winning goals (5). Sophomore Ashley Smith was also named 1st Team All-Southland, while Stacia Carroll, Kristen Ricks, Alex Moore, Dayna Mounie and Shelby Wilson were all 2nd team. Bassett and Wilson were also named NSCAA All-Region. Head Coach Jeremy Bishop was selected as the league’s Coach of the Year. Following the season, Bassett, Smitha and Moore were selected to the Southland All-Academic team. Bassett (13; 24th) and Smith (11; 45th) both finished in the national Top 50 in goals, finishing 1-2 in the Southland to pace a Bears attack that ranked 10th nationally in points per game. Senior midfielder Allie Coleman is continuing her career overseas, playing professionally in Australia.
MEN’S GOLF A year after being named Southland Newcomer of the Year, Louis Tomlinson followed by being named the league’s Player of the Year after posting a 73.3 stroke average for the season with four Top 10 finishes while leading the Bears to five Top 5 finishes. Tomlinson was also a Southland All-Academic selection for the 2nd consecutive season, posting a 3.3 cumulative GPA.
INDOOR & BEACH VOLLEYBALL During the indoor season, reached the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament. Megan Nash was named 1st Team All-Southland for the second consecutive season. She and Samantha Anderson were both named to the Southland All-Academic team, with Nash holding a 3.95 GPA in Exercise Science and Anderson a 3.90. The Sugar Bears’ recruiting class received Honorable Mention in the PrepVolleyball.com national rankings. The program’s first beach season was a rousing success, as the Beach Bears were among the national leaders in win percentage, finishing 14-3 overall (.824) with the only losses coming to No. 7 LSU, No. 16 Tulane and No. 17 TCU. The Beach Bears won 64 of their 85 individual matches in their 17 duals, a .753 winning percentage. Senior Kate Elman was selected for the NCAA Career In Sports Forum.
WOMEN’S GOLF The women’s golf team finished as Southland runner-up for the 3rd consecutive season, finishing a single stroke short of champion Houston Baptist. Emma Svensson was 4th overall, Fernanda Lira 6th and Brenda Gonzalez 8th, the second year in a row that trio finished in the Top 10. Gonzalez and Svensson were 1st Team All-Southland and Southland All-Academic. The Bears won two tournaments during the season, winning the Little Rock Golf Classic in November and the Little Rock/Arkansas State Invitational in March.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MEN’S SOCCER Freshman Niklas Brodacki made program history, becoming the first to earn Missouri Valley Conference individual awards as he was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year after he led the MVC with 13 goals and 27 points – both of which led the nation among freshmen. An All-Region selection, Brodacki ranked 6th in the nation in goals per game, and led the MVC and was 13th nationally with 5 game-winning goals.
named 2nd Team All-Southland, while freshman Cylla Hill was named to the 3rd team. Gomness, Whisenhunt and junior Kate Myers were named to the Southland All-Academic team. Whisenhunt broke the program career record for steals, finishing with 99. Senior Hannah Stirton broke the record for most times hit by a pitch, finishing with 41. Stirton (229) & Whisenhunt (228) finished 1/2 in program history in career starts.
Senior Wes Carson was 2nd team All-MVC while Marc Olsen and Jonathan Gilkes were named to the MVC All-Freshman team, the 3rd straight season the Bears featured at least a pair on the league’s All-Freshman team.
TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY
Sophomore Chris Holmes was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team, the 3rd Bear to earn that distinction in the program’s Division I era.
Grant Williams, Markus Schwiekert, Brigette Caruthers, Samantha Gibson and Sara Calhoun were named to the Southland’s All-Academic teams.
The Bears had their longest unbeaten streak in their time in D-I, closing out the regular season with 6 straight – going 5-0-1 in that span.
The teams broke four school records at the Southland Outdoor championships including Brant Cook in the 1500m, Keeton in the 110m hurdles, Olivia Groeber in pole vault and Victoria Campfield in the 400m hurdles, a record set earlier in the year by Gibson. Logan Morton broke the school’s triple-jump record during the season. During the indoor season, Zack Jewell broke the school 60m record, Sharad Mackey the 200m record, & Keeton the 60m hurdles record.
SOFTBALL The Bears qualified for the 6-team Southland Conference tournament for the 6th straight year, advancing to the tournament semis for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. Over the past 6 seasons the Bears have averaged nearly 33 wins per year. In the six years prior to Coach David Kuhn’s arrival in Conway, the Bears averaged just 14.5 wins. It was the 8th straight season under Kuhn for the Bears to win at least 25 games. Seniors Kayla Gomness & Briana Whisenhunt were
The Bears sent a pair of hurdlers to the NCAA prelims for the first time in senior James Lassiter and freshman Marcel Keeton. Keeton qualified for the USA Track & Field junior championships.
SPIRIT The Honeybears dance team reached a new program high in 2017 at the NDA Collegiate Cheer & Dance Championships, advancing to the finals and pulling in a 6th-place finish – their best finish to date.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
TENNIS
ADMINISTRATION
The Sugar Bears enjoyed their best season in program history in 2017, destroying the program record for wins with 21 – 50 percent more than the previous record of 14 set in 2016. The Sugar Bears finished 8-3 in Southland play, battling Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the final match of the regular season for a share of the league title. The Sugar Bears would advance to the championship of the Southland tournament, falling to the top-seeded Islanders 4-2.
The Central Arkansas administration has a pair of administrators sitting on national selection committees, as Teague served his 2nd year on the FCS Football Playoff Selection committee in 2016 and Associate AD Natalie Shock completed her 3rd season on the Division I Softball Championship selection committee. Shock will serve as the Committee Chair in 2017-18.
They put together the program’s longest winning streak, reeling off 9 in a row to begin the season, and had another 6-match winning streak before dropping the regular-season finale to A&M-Corpus Christi. The duo of QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat were 1st Team All-Southland in doubles, while Amiru Shimoguchi and Marli Van Heerden were 2nd Team All-Southland in singles. Ma & Manataweewat set the program record for doubles victories in a season, compiling a 19-2 mark. Ma also broke the program record for singles wins in a season, finishing with 21 with Van Heerden just behind at 20. Shimoguchi’s 8 conference wins at No. 4 singles tied for the league lead, while Van Heerden’s 8-2 mark at No. 5 tied for the best mark in the Southland. She recorded 14 sweeps during the season en route to a 17-5 record. Ma was also named to the Southland All-Academic team, sporting a 3.70 cumulative GPA.
IN THE MEDIA The Bears’ football program was prominently featured on several major outlets for video of “Fat Bowl III” a player-organized 7-on-7 touch football game exclusively for offensive linemen. With ESPN, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, FootballScoop, etc., the video was viewed more than 10 million times. This comes a year after “Fat Bowl II” led ESPN’s Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt, being highlighted on the show-opening “Best Thing I Saw Today” segment. The story of women’s soccer student-athlete Kelsey Johnson – who recovered from offseason surgery to remove a brain tumor to return to the team and see action in her final home game – garnered attention both locally and nationally, with features on Little Rock TV and on ESPN.com. Johnson would later receive the Southland’s Steve McCarty Citizenship Award - UCA’s 3rd recipient (Cristin Curl - 2012; Tye Throneberry - 2010). The Sugar Bears and Central Arkansas fans were featured on the ESPN telecast for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament selection show for the second consecutive season. Through its work on social platforms, the Central Arkansas athletic department was selected as one of the Top 25 FCS teams in visual communication by SkullSparks Digital Sports Consulting, the second consecutive season to be recognized.
STUDENT-ATHLETE WELL-BEING AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COUNCIL ACTIVITIES • Collected donations for Louisiana flood victims; bought school supplies & delivered them at football game at Southeastern Louisiana • Raised more than $4,500 for Boys & Girls Club of Faulkner County through pancake breakfast fundraier • Provided free shoes to over 300 Conway-area children through ‘Shoes of Hope’ event with Samaritan’s Feet • Participated in Operation Christmas Child – providing Christmas presents to children all over the world. • Collected can tabs for Ronald McDonald House LIFE SKILLS AREAS RECOMMENDED BY NCAA • • • • • • • •
Alcohol and drug guidelines Personal development Leadership Sexual orientation Diversity Nutrition Personal counseling Gambling
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Career counseling
AREAS COVERED THIS YEAR •
Personal development & leadership
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Social media training
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Inky Johnson presentation on character, teamwork and perseverance
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS Throughout the year, our teams volunteer at numerous community events, school programs, youth & elderly programs and charity functions, in addition to on-campus events and organizing and volunteering for fundraisers for a variety of charities. In all, our student-athletes logged more than 2,700 hours of community service over the past year. Some of the projects UCA student-athletes & staff were involved in over the past year include: • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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Conway United Way – Stuff The Bus project Conway Optimist Club Youth Football Clinic Staffed Conway Kids Triathlon Reading programs at local Elementary schools & Pre-K programs Outreach programs with local retirement centers Staffed Conway EcoFest Helped with programs at First Tee of Arkansas 5K Walk for Diabetes Staffed Kidz Club play area at UCA football games Served as helpers for Conway Miracle League Baseball Collected toys for Operation Christmas Child Packed boxes at Operation Christmas Child warehouse Collected donations for soccer student-athlete Kelsey Johnson to assist with medical expenses for brain surgery Volunteered at Boys & Girls Club of Conway Staffed local elementary school Fun Day Volunteered at TOP Soccer youth program Assisted with Tacos4Life Mobile Pack program to provide food to underdeveloped nations Staffed “The Big Event” volunteer day in Conway Worked UCA “Brake For Bears” safe driving/pedestrian
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awareness event Clay/pottery activities with children with mental disabilities, in conjunction with Pediatrics Plus Staffed “Freezin’ For A Reason” charity event for Arkansas Children’s Hospital Helped move foster parent & family
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Ballon volleyball at College Square retirement center
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