’Roo Women’s Soccer Partners with Team in Training to Give Cancer the Boot

’Roo Women’s Soccer Partners with Team in Training to Give Cancer the Boot

(Story courtesy of the Austin College website)

SHERMAN, Texas
– On October 30, the Austin College women's soccer team will be joining forces with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training to raise money for both research and patient services for those affected by Leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and myeloma with a special Give Cancer the Boot event coinciding with the Kangaroo's soccer match against Southwestern University.

The effort will be lead by Natalie Nelms, a junior captain and two-time All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference midfielder for Austin College. Nelms first became involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this past summer during an internship with the ExxonMobil Community Summer Jobs Program. The internship lasted eight weeks and was funded by ExxonMobil and put together by the Volunteer Center of North Texas.

During her time in the internship, Nelms worked with the Team In Training program. Team In Training is a large scale endurance fundraising program which trains participants to compete in marathons, half-marathons, cycling events, triathlons and hiking events with the intent to raise funds to help combat cancer in all of its forms.

"I really got inspired while working there and I got extremely close to my coworkers," said Nelms. "I thought the Give Cancer the Boot event would be the perfect thing. My goals for the event are ultimately to gain awareness and get the word out about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Team In Training and inspire more people like I was inspired."

For her part as a member of Team In Training, Nelms will be participating in a half-marathon in January at Disney World with a goal of raising at least $3,500 by the end of November. During the Give Cancer the Boot event on campus, Nelms has organized a raffle to take place during halftime of the Austin College women's soccer team's October 30 game against Southwestern.

Nelms will be working in conjunction with both the men's and women's soccer teams as well as the Alpha Phi Omega sorority to raise funds, with the three groups selling Give Cancer the Boot t-shirts on the campus of Austin College during the week of October 24-28.

More information on Team In Training can be found at http://www.teamintraining.org/ntxok/, and anyone wishing to help Natalie in her efforts can visit http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntxok/wdw12/natalieo22o to make a donation.

Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Happy Holidays from the SCAC!
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