This Saturday, April 3rd, the Mount Ida College Athletic Department and Student Athlete-Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.) will be sponsoring a “Support the Troops” event to honor former lacrosse alumni now serving and to raise money for charity. The event will take place at Saturday’s lacrosse double-header, which features two games with playoff implications for both the men’s and women’s teams.
The event begins at 1 p.m. when the Mount Ida men’s team faces rival Castleton State. At halftime of the game, two former Mount Ida lacrosse players, Jim Grande ’07 and Tommy Watts ’08, will be in attendance and honored. Grande was a four year member of the men’s lacrosse team and a two-time captain for the Mustangs. Upon graduation, he joined the coaching staff for two years as an offensive coordinator. Grande is currently a 2nd Lieutenant stationed at Fort Leonard in Wood, Missouri with the Delta Company’s 35th Battalion. Watts was additionally a four year member of the men’s lacrosse team and a team captain. He was a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) All-Conference selection in 2008 and a two-time NAC All-Tournament Team selection. Watts is now a specialist with the 82nd Airborne, stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was recently a part of the humanitarian aid effort to Haiti.
The day continues when the Mount Ida women’s team hosts conference foe Norwich University at 3 p.m. The women’s team will take the field wearing special camouflage shirts for warm-ups. Additional shirts will be on sale during both games for $12 along with “Support the Troops” ribbons. Proceeds from sales will be donated to the USO (United Service Organizations.)
The USO is a congressionally chartered, private, nonprofit organization that supports United States troops and their families. The USO delivers its programs and services at more than 130 locations around the world. In recent years, the USO has opened centers in Kuwait, Qatar and Afghanistan to support service members participating in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, as well as centers in Vicenza, Italy, and at the Dallas/Fort Worth, Raleigh/Durham and Denver International Airports.