Double Play

LHU Softball team helping those affected by Rita

By DOUG SPATAFORE — dspatafore@lhup.edu
HOUSTON — It was nearly three years ago that a category four hurricane named Rita smashed into Texas’ Gulf Coast and devastated the lives of millions of Houston residents.

Now the No. 1 women’s collegiate softball team in the land, the Lock Haven University (47-6) Lady Eagles, are bringing some relief to Houstoners by helping Habitat for Humanity build a home for a struggling Houston family.

With jet lag setting in, a bed they’ve never slept in and games starting the next day the Lady Eagles flew out of bed in the wee hours of the South Texas morning with a mission in mind: aiding their new neighbors for the week.

Head Coach Kelley Green, Associate Athletic Director Peter Campbell and the entire Lady Eagle squad took full advantage of the opportunity to help a family in need.

“It was the coolest thing to help people, knowing that they would be in a house that you built with your own two hands and having the opportunity to be able to play a role in changing the lives of people,” said freshman Meredith Morris.

With a mere 24 hours remaining before LHU would take the field in search of their second ever softball national championship, the team’s eyes shifted from themselves, to those in need as they joined the same teams who would be their competition for the rest of the week in some action which goes towards a good cause.

Teams from the Mid-Atlantic, West, Northeast and North Central regions teamed up in the Umland Park district of the greater Houston area to begin building what will eventually be 10 homes by week’s end.

Associate Athletic Director Peter Campbell went full steam ahead into the work and felt the Lady Eagles took full advantage of the situation in front of them.

“It was a great opportunity for our team and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves, while realizing that they were helping real people in real life situations in their attempt to get out of the difficult position they are in,” said an exhausted Campbell before he went to relax for the rest of the afternoon in the hotel pool.

Hurricane Rita dealt a devastating blow to a region that was already inundated with stress and hardship following the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Following landfall, help came in droves to help the struggling citizens, but three years later there is still work that needs to be done and through the cooperation of the NCAA and Habitat For Humanity International, help is on the way.

While being the No. 1 team in the nation, one would believe that teamwork on the field may be all Lock Haven would know, but junior pitcher Jess Jeffries pointed out that teamwork can also be present off the field.

“It was incredible for us to be able to see what we can do as a team off the field using our teamwork to help change the lives of people we don’t know,” stated Jeffries.

Fellow junior pitcher Kristin Erb felt the same way Jeffries, Morris, Campbell and the rest of the Lady Eagle team did following their afternoon of construction.

“It was amazing getting to build a home for people who may never have the opportunity to own their own home and it was nice to work for people who you never get to meet, but you know they appreciate your hard work and your desire to help change their lives,” said Erb.

Work on the homes will continue everyday until the end of the 2008 Division II National Championships Festival on Saturday.