BRYANT FIELD HOCKEY IN THE COMMUNITY: GETTING INVOLVED

March 8, 2010

BRYANT FIELD HOCKEY IN THE COMMUNITY: GETTING INVOLVED

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University field hockey team is chipping in to do its part this offseason, taking time to contribute to the Rhode Island community in which its members live. The Bulldogs will be taking part in four different charity or community events in March and April.

PART I: ROCKY HILL SCHOOL

The Bulldogs kicked off their community service "season" on Wednesday, March 3, as juniors Brittany Glenn (Easthampton, Mass.) and Elise Boissoneau (Ashburnham, Mass.), freshman Chiedza Mawema (Harare, Zimbabwe), Chelsea Theokas (Merrimack, N.H.) and sophomores Katherine Andrusin (North Andover, Mass.), Aly Czerniak (Holyoke, Mass.) and Karlie Tiscia (Stamford, Conn.) visited the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, R.I. to participate in the school's Sportsmanship Day. The sextet of student-athletes performed three different skits about sportsmanship, following them up with a Question & Answer session with the grade school students.

PART II: CELEBRITY READERS

The week of March 15, members of the Bryant University field hockey team, in conjunction with SAAC, will take the time to visit the children of Laperche Elementary School in Smithfield, R.I. to participate in the Celebrity Readers program. Student-athletes from all different Bulldogs sports will team up with Laperche students for a day of reading and fun.

PART III: BE THE MATCH BONE MARROW REGISTRY

The third part of the field hockey team's goal to get involved will come on March 31, when the Bulldogs host the Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry on the Bryant University campus.

The Be The Match Registry services patients in need of a marrow transplant that do not have a matching donor in their family. These patients need to find a matching unrelated donor that is willing to donate stem cells on their behalf. Be The Match helps the 10,000 patients a year who suffer from leukemia, lymphoma or a variety of bone marrow functioning diseases that need a marrow transplant from an unrelated donor.

DID YOU KNOW? Only 30 percent of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant have a matching donor in their family.

Check out www.bethematch.org for more information or stop by the Unistructure on March 31 to register!

PART IV: RELAY FOR LIFE

On April 16-17, Bryant field hockey will participate in Relay for Life as an entire team, helping Bryant University to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Click here to find out more information about how you can join or support Relay for Life at Bryant University.