Huskers Win First Life Skills Team Award

Lincoln - The Nebraska women’s basketball team captured the first Life Skills Award of Excellence Team Competition held by the University of Nebraska Athletic Department when the team champion was announced on Sunday, April 18.

The Huskers were presented the team title by 2003 NFL Man of the Year Will Shields in front of a crowd of more than 800 at Nebraska’s Annual Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Banquet at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

During the 2003-04 academic year, Nebraska initiated the Life Skills Award of Excellence Team Competition, which is designed to promote student-athlete involvement in campus-wide programming, community service and leadership, while enhancing student-athletes’ preparation for life after sports.

The Husker women’s basketball team embraced the new program and made winning the inaugural title one of its goals. The Huskers’ commitment to winning and helping others paid off, as the women’s basketball team led the contest from start to finish.

Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said she was thrilled that her players were able to earn the inaugural Life Skills Award.

"We want the student-athletes in our program to wholly take advantage of the opportunities that are here at the University of Nebraska," Yori said. "We’re attempting to achieve excellence in athletics, academics and service to others, and we obviously made great strides in those areas this year."

The women’s basketball team, which also produced one of the biggest turnarounds on the court in Division I women’s basketball by finishing with an 18-13 overall record, amassed 3,210 points in the Life Skills Competition to outdistance the second-place women’s gymnastics team (3,158) by 52 points. The volleyball team finished third with 2,005 points, while the football team added 1,805 points. The women’s track and field team finished fifth with 1,600 points.

All 21 Husker teams took part in the program, which assigned points to individual and team efforts in the Life Skills categories of team enhancement, outreach, athletes supporting athletes, personal enhancement, leadership and team GPA. Other points were earned by going above and beyond the traditional categories and communicating with the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and Husker Outreach Council.