Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Make an Impact in Valley
5/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 6, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - When Sue Behme was hired as the head coach of the Fresno State women's lacrosse team she wanted her team to make an impact in the community. Her team has done just as the program earned the Athletic Director's Community Service award in the teams' inaugural season.
"It's a huge accomplishment," Behme said. "What we do off the field is more important than what we do on the field. We wanted to be that team on campus that went above and beyond and rose to the top."
Throughout the course of the academic year the team participated activities such as the E-Mentoring program, Team Smile, Race for the Cure, free lacrosse clinics, visiting youth at Children's Hospital and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. Collectively, the team participated in 484.50 hours of community service during the year.
"It's not all we are but doing community service is a big part of who we are," Behme said. "I have always felt that it is important. We did some great things. It is fun. No matter what we do and how big of a program we become there is always a bigger picture."
A project the team took on throughout the course of the season was holding free lacrosse clinics to help educate the people of the Central Valley about the game. The clinics started in August when only four girls attended and by January and February there was over 200 people attending.
Along with serving the community, it was also important for the women's lacrosse team to attend games of the other teams on campus.
"We made it a priority to go to as many of the other student-athletes events as possible," Behme said. "There was always somebody at almost everything. Sometimes we left practice early to go to softball, baseball or tennis. It is just really important to show support for our other teams."
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