t was the weekend before Veteran’s Day.The New England Patriots were hosting

their division rival Miami Dolphins and had invited former soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen to join players from both teams on the field for a pregame ceremony.High in the stands, a season ticket holder

named Chris nudged his 13-year-old son. He wanted to teach the boy a lesson about respect and honor. “Watch which Patriots thank the veterans for their service,” Chris told him.

After the National Anthem had been properly sung, and the audience had offered a chorus of screams and whistles, the play-ers began to scatter to the sidelines. Only

Athlete, Student, AmbassadorWhat the cynics say is true: student-

athletes aren’t regular college students. Their time is tightly managed. They run from practice to the weight room to the buses to the games, grabbing what moments they can for their classes and themselves.

And even after all of that is done, they are expected to be one more thing: a contributing member of the community.

In a place like West Virginia, where no professional sports teams are available to soften the glare of the spotlight, expectations are more pronounced. Kids want autographs, community organizations want volunteers, parents want role models.

“Everybody knows you,” says longtime gymnastics head coach Linda Burdette-Good. “You have to acknowledge that. You need to learn to give back to the community and to communicate with them.”

More often than not, the Mountaineers answer the call.

The women’s soccer team has raised more than $48,000 to help fight breast cancer. The gymnastics team has participated in the Light the Night Walk, benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Many student-athletes visit hospitals and elementary schools and nursing homes.

“We’re just normal people, but we realize to some fans, we’re more than that,” says senior gymnast Ashley Wilson. “But I feel like that’s a good thing. Having people watching motivates you.”

Role ModelsIn Zimbabwe, as in much of the world, soccer is the favorite sport.

And in the country’s Premier League, few teams are more famous or successful than the Highlanders Football Club. In the past two decades, the Highlanders have

employed some of the most talented players in Africa and won a slew of championship titles.

Not surprisingly, Highlanders fans are as dedicated to the team as the team is to the sport. They come from all over the country on game day to pack Babourfields Stadium in Bulawayo.

WVU freshman forward Abel “Shadow” Sebele grew up in that town in the Highlanders heyday, and remembers waiting outside the stadium after games to beg players for autographs. His favorite was Johannes Ngodzo, a midfielder known for his stylish play.

“I have three or four autographs from him,” Sebele says. “I talked to him as much as I could.”

The summer after his freshman year in high school, Sebele—who by then had moved to the United States to play for Episcopal High School in Virginia—got to sit down with his boyhood hero and ask all of the questions he’d been pondering since he was a boy. “It was a really good conversation,” Sebele says.

And he remembered that when he arrived at WVU in the fall of 2009 and young players began lining up outside of Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium after games, waiting for hugs and autographs.

Sebele didn’t have to think about it. He obliged every fan. “I know what it’s like to be them,” he says. “I’ve been in their situation.”

Megan Mischler had a similar realization last summer. A group of teenagers from Chagrin Falls High School in eastern Ohio made the trek to WVU’s annual overnight camp, and it was Mischler’s job to work with them.

Mischler is the team’s junior forward. Before an injury cut her sophomore season short, she was averaging 80 minutes per

one bothered to sprint out and acknowledge the veterans. He shook every one of their hands.

Back in the stands, Chris was stunned. So stunned that he wrote an e-mail to the Miami

Herald, telling the editors how embarrassed he’d been that no one on his team took the time to offer

his appreciation to the veterans, and how inspired he’d been that one young man—a Dolphins’

rookie—had the sense and compassion to step forward when everyone around him stepped back.

“It was the highlight of the game for me to see there is at least one player in the NFL who understands what these people have given up for us,” Chris wrote.

That one player was former WVU quarterback Pat White.

I

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(left: top to bottom)WVU soccer player Megan Mischler playing bingo at Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown.

Men’s basketball player Dan Jennings reads aloud to Mountainview Elementary students.

Soccer Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown conducts free clinics at an elementary school.

Sophomore gymnasts (l-r) Jenn Sharon, Tina Maloney, and Nicole Roach at Light the Night festivities that benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Once Mountaineer. . . a

Written by April Johnston

photograph by DAn FrienD

The men’s soccer team soon became a living example of LeBlanc’s efforts. It is among the most diverse on campus, with four international players—two from Zimbabwe, one from Ireland, and one from Brazil—and a we-are-family atmosphere.

And, last season, when senior Gift Maworere looked out on the crowd during pregame announcements, he saw that diversity reflected in the crowd. Faces of every color, nationality, and ethnicity stared back.

Once, he even heard the sound of drums pounding out a familiar Zimbabwean beat.

The Mountaineer SpiritFor Maworere, numbers still matter. Lately, they’re all that matters.

He entered the Major League Soccer (MLS) draft this year, after graduating in December 2009 with a degree in business

administration, and he worries how he will stack up to the other hopefuls. Is he good enough? Will he be chosen early? Will he be chosen at all? If he is chosen, will the city where he plays embrace him the way Morgantown has?

Maworere, like Sebele, was born and raised in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He came to the United States as a teenager to play soccer for Episcopal High School before being recruited by WVU. Nearly all of the

friends he’s made and experiences he’s had in this country were made possible by the sport.

But it was still difficult to choose entering the MLS draft over entering graduate school at WVU. How do you decide between the game that has ruled your life and the town that has shaped it? How do you decide between your dreams and your family?

For Maworere, acceptance came from knowing that the experiences he’s had in Morgantown will follow him no matter where in the country—or where in the world—he ends up.

He knows because he’s watched the way other athletes have carried the Mountaineer Spirit with them. He knows because he’s watched Pat White.

“Like Pat White says . . . once a Mountaineer, always a Mountaineer.”

game and was the team’s leading scorer. So the girls from Chagrin Falls were properly impressed with their tutor. By the end of the camp, they had all made promises to attend an upcoming game and cheer her on.

Mischler told them she’d love to see them, but didn’t think much more of it. “I guess I didn’t think they’d really come,” she says. The drive alone would take more than four hours, round-trip. But when WVU played the University of Pittsburgh on September 18, there were the girls from Chagrin Falls, unfurling a 15-foot banner with Mischler’s name on it.

The gesture made Mischler realize what an impact college athletes have on their younger counterparts. She thought of herself as a girl who plays soccer. They thought of her as a star. And, suddenly, all of the extra time spent in soccer clinics—time that could have been spent studying or sleeping—was worth it.

“It seems like a lot sometimes, but it’s really just a couple of days, a couple more minutes of our time,” Mischler says. “I think we have to do it. They really look up to us. They want to be like us—to be Mountaineers.”

Finding FansIn her 36 seasons at WVU, Linda Burdette-Good has led the gymnastics team to 600 wins, ten conference championships, 31 trips to regionals, and four trips to nationals.

That kind of legacy usually gets attention. It typically translates to packed stands and rabid fans. But at a University with top-tier football and basketball programs, it’s sometimes hard to find your way out of the shadows.

Burdette-Good found a way: instead of waiting for fans to come to see her gymnasts, she threw her gymnasts out to find their fans.

“I knew if we got out into the community, they’d support us,” Burdette-Good says. “The great thing about gymnastics is you don’t have to understand the rules. There’s always something going on. It’s like a three-ring circus.”

So she sent her athletes to elementary

schools to pass out schedules, posters, and tickets. She sent them into the stands after meets to greet their audience and encourage them to come back. She sent them out to nursing homes to play board games with senior citizens. One year, she insisted they go on Valentine’s Day. She thought they’d be furious. But they returned to WVU with tears in their eyes: the elderly residents had spent the afternoon giving them advice about love and marriage. A handful of those residents piled into a van and showed up at the next meet.

Women’s soccer head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown tried the same approach when she arrived at WVU. In other parts of the country, soccer has turned into a phenomenon. In West Virginia, it’s still a young sport. Many children are the first generation to play, and WVU play-ers have largely been responsible for teaching them how.

Last year, at the Soccer School of Excellence, a weeks-long winter clinic for youngsters, when Mischler announced they were going to learn how to dribble, one girl raised her hand. “I can dribble already,” she said. She grabbed the soccer ball and bounced it between the turf and her hand. Mischler grinned. “That’s good,” she told her, “but you have to use your feet.”

“It’s important for our girls to be role models and ambassadors,” Izzo-Brown says. “They’re very privileged, to be in a position where they’re given a lot, and it’s important for them to give back.”

Men’s Soccer Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc tried a different approach with his team. He helped start OneWVU, a program that teaches the importance of diversity and community on campus.

“Only two colors matter at WVU,” the program’s slogan touts, “gold and blue.”

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All Mountaineers are Champions

WVU’s men’s soccer team earned a NSCAA Team Academic Award for its academic success by the

National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

WVU’s rifle team has captured 14 national championships and been featured in The Washington Post.

Four members of WVU’s rowing team were named National Scholar Athletes by the Collegiate Rowing

Coaches Association.

The Mountaineer is the #10 best college football mascot, according to Fox Sports.

Sporting News described Morgantown as the 25th best sports city in the nation (quite a feat for a town with

no pro teams).

Ten WVU football players were named to the all-Big East first and second teams in 2009.

WVU was one of 39 institutions from across the country that were recognized for graduating 75% or

more of its football student athletes.

WVU senior linebacker Reed Williams was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American second-team

selection in 2009. He was also one of 12 finalists for the 2009 Wuerffel Trophy, given to the player who best

combines exemplary community service with outstanding academic and athletic achievement.

WVU gymnast Mehgan Morris was named Outstanding Senior Gymnast by the East Atlantic Gymnastic League

(EAGL) in 2009. Fourteen WVU gymnasts were named to the EAGL All-Academic Team.

The women’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished as

number 15 nationally in the Coaches’ Poll.

The men’s basketball team was crowned the Big East champions and advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

They finished number 3 nationally in the Coaches’ Poll.

Three outdoor track team members are Big East champions: Marie-Louise Asselin (5,000 meters), Clara

Grandt (10,000 meters), and Carly Hamric (1,500 meters).

WVU received unconditional recertification in April 2010 from the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletic

Certification, recognizing that the University’s athletic program is in substantial conformity with operating

principles adopted by Division I schools.

At the conclusion of NCAA winter competition, WVU stood at number 15 nationally and first in the Big East

in the 2009-10 Learfield Sports Director’s Cup standings, with 553 points. WVU finished in a school-best

30th place two years ago.

The WVU men’s basketball team, women’s cross country team, and women’s soccer team received public

recognition by the NCAA for their latest multiyear Academic Progress Rate scores.

Da’Sean Butler was selected as the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner. The award is given annually to the

most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

For seven consecutive years, at least one WVU student-athlete has been named an ESPN The Magazine

First Team Academic All-American. Women’s basketball’s Liz Repella earned the honor this past season.