CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami Department of Athletics continued to earn high praise with its student-athlete community outreach program, as it earned a No. 3 ranking in the NCAA Team Works Helper Helper Community Service Competition.
The Hurricanes’ No. 3 ranking in the NCAA Community Service Top 25 is the highest among Atlantic Coast Conference institutions.
“University of Miami student-athletes are committed to serving our community – and the world,” Miami Director of Athletics Blake James said. “To be ranked as the No. 1 institution in the ACC for community service says a lot about our student-athletes, our coaches, our support staff and the values of our University, and I could not be more proud.”
NCAA Team Works, which coordinates community service efforts at NCAA championships, and Helper Helper, a volunteer management, and tracking platform, launched the community service competition to recognize student-athletes who give back to their communities. The competition ran from January through March.
The winning schools were determined based on the amount of service hours completed and the participation of student-athletes.
Over the course of the past three months, Miami student-athletes participated in 75 events with 16 nonprofit organizations and tallied 1,531 service hours since the competition began.
“This is such a tremendous accomplishment for our student-athletes,” assistant athletics director for student-athlete development Shirelle Jackson said. “Our student-athletes truly care about helping others and making their community a great place to live.”
In the team-specific competition, the Hurricanes tallied the most community service hours among all Division I men’s tennis programs.
In addition, the Miami athletics community outreach programs also ranked in the NCAA’s top five in each of the following sports: men’s basketball (No. 3), football (No. 2), women’s rowing (No. 4), women’s soccer (No. 3), men’s track and field (No. 5) and women’s track and field (No. 5).
Rounding out the top five schools in Division I competition were George Washington (No. 1), Fairfield (No. 2), North Carolina Central (No. 4) and Louisville (No. 5).
For more information on the NCAA Team Works Helper Helper Community Service Competition, visit ncaa.com/teamworks.
Story courtesy of: http://www.hurricanesports.com/