Hurricanes Announce Community Initiatives

Oct. 26, 2006

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The University of Miami Athletic Department announced today several community initiatives for the football team. The initiatives are in response to the incident which occurred in the Florida International game on October 14 and will focus on sportsmanship and community service.

Among the initiatives are:

· Development of a comprehensive sportsmanship program with the Greater Miami Athletic Conference, a coalition of 30 area high schools. The program will use the recent incident as a learning experience for both the players involved and local student-athletes. Activities will include video and power point presentations as well as visits by players to discuss the importance of respect and fair play.

· The selection of a charity by the players suspended in the incident which will be followed by a meaningful, on-going relationship with that charity.

· A program of after-school visits to South Florida schools and community centers which will involve scholastic tutoring and the discussion of values including sportsmanship and proper behavior.

· An intensification of the football team’s current relationship with the Miami-Dade Police Department’s “Join a Team, Not a Gang” Program to include football players accompanying departmental personnel on group visits.

· Involvement in other community outreach programs benefiting causes such as outreach to the homeless.

The players will begin their community service today with visit to a homeless outreach facility in Miami.