SLAM DUNK: CCU varsity women’s basketball team serves community
CCU's varsity women's basketball team set aside time during its first NCAA post-season tournament to volunteer at a nearby nursing home. (Photo courtesy: Colorado Christian University)
SUBMITTED BY: Aimee Davison, Associate Athletics Director, Colorado Christian University
LAKEWOOD – For the women of Colorado Christian University’s varsity basketball team, community service isn’t a once-a-season thing. It isn’t done in obligation or as a public-relations gimmick. At CCU, it’s integral to the lifestyle each student embraces when choosing to compete for the Cougars.
In total, 180 hours of volunteer service are part of the graduation requirement for every student, athletes included, which makes for a rather heavy workload to fit into class and sports schedules. So convenience has nothing to do with it.
In March, during CCU’s first appearance in the NCAA Division-II Women’s Basketball Tournament in Durango, the 17-player Lady Cougars team made a detour to the Sunshine Gardens Assisted Living Community.
“Coach told us on the bus headed down to Durango,” said Christina Whitelaw, a First Team All-Region pick and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
Whitelaw led the Cougars in scoring, assists, rebounds, steals, and three-point field-goal percentage, key factors in their berth at the tournament.
With 158 steals in the regular season, Whitelaw was the top NCAA player in the category, including Division I, and finished only 44 steals off the all-time record.
Yet Whitelaw’s steely game face beamed at the news about the Sunshine Gardens detour from Head Coach Tim Hays.
“Right away everyone got excited,” Whitelaw said. “It was really cool to think that, even in such a serious tournament, we were still taking time out to serve.”
The Sunshine Gardens trip was arranged in part by facility manager Trish Kellogg, wife of the women’s head coach at nearby Fort Lewis College, one of CCU’s top competitors. “Some of the girls led a bingo tournament for several of the women, while a few serenaded a gentleman who loved to play the piano,” Hays said. “ Others went room-to-room and encouraged those who were not feeling well or were unable to make it to the activities.”
And it wasn’t the first time the team detoured this year. During Thanksgiving break they spent four days with the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming – a seven-hour drive from campus -helping in schools and communities on the Wind River Reservation. Loaded down with 7,000 pounds of turkey, food supplies, and clothing collected by CCU students and staff, the ladies and coaches distributed donations to low-income families and helped run P.E. classes and mentor kids at a local grade school.
In May, they will travel to Costa Rica for the second time to volunteer with Food for the Hungry. The nonprofit organization hopes to feed 20,000 children during the 10-day project.
“We’re thrilled that our women’s team had an opportunity like the one in Durango,” said CCU Director of Athletics Darren Richie. But he emphasized the context of their achievement within CCU’s holistic program that develops athletes as scholars, individuals and caring citizens.
Although the team exited the Durango tournament in the first round, Hays is optimistic at their potential as a small university playing in a very tough conference. And none of his players saw the Durango trip as a loss: Levity prevailed on the bus ride home, spurred on by the lighthearted memories from Sunshine Gardens.
“Like most of our athletic teams, this group does a great job in their community engagement,” Richie said. “We’re proud to have them representing Colorado Christian University, on and beyond the court.”
The only member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities located in the mainline Rocky Mountains and minutes from Denver, CCU provides a distinctive educational experience on a Christ-centered foundation. More than 3,500 traditional, adult, and graduate students enroll annually at the main campus, in online programs, and at regional centers throughout Colorado, choosing from 43 degree-granting programs and various licensure options. The University is an NCAA Division-II member and a Division-I member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
