Walk for Redhawks to raise scholarship funds

Southeast Missouri State soccer coach Heather Nelson has coached several top players in the Ohio Valley Conference since she began coaching at the program's inception in 1999.

She thrives on bringing in talent that complements the already tradition-rich program, and Siena Senatore was no exception.

Nelson was recruiting the freshman from Canberra, Australia, in the fall. Senatore's parents were extremely interested in their daughter finding a school that would not only be a good fit, but where she'd be able to enroll for the spring semester to get a head start on her academics while transitioning into life in America after attending a private, all-girls high school.

"In my particular situation I did not have the scholarship funds remaining in my budget that would have allowed me to compete with the kind of schools that were recruiting her, which was really a number of Top 100 schools all across the country -- Big 10, Big 12, SEC and West Coast programs," Nelson said.

But with the Walk for Redhawks program, which serves to enhance the Southeast athletics scholarship funding, Nelson was able to ink the defender who has played for the Australian National team at multiple age levels.

Cindy Gannon, left, Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Southeast Missouri State and Cheryl Ziegler, team captain for Weezy's Wacky Walkers fold shirts for the Walk for Redhawks event Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at The Bank of Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

Senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator Cindy Gannon, who created what was originally the Walk for Women eight years ago, had always alerted Southeast coaches to the fact that if there was a recruit that was a potential "difference-maker" and the program's budget did not allow for them to offer enough scholarship money to sign them then the coach should talk to Gannon about receiving funding from the Walk for Redhawks program.

Donations made go into a Southeast foundation account and will be used to help fund athletic scholarships.

Southeast is allowed the equivalency of 191 scholarships by the NCAA, which can be split to provide for more student-athletes. However, the NCAA designates how many scholarships can be allotted to each team. For women's soccer that's 14, which are then divided amongst the players however Nelson chooses.

The university does not currently fund the complete 191 scholarships but is much closer to that limit than when the Walk for Redhawks began eight years ago.

"Right now we are very, very close to that maximum number, and because of this event we've been able to make a substantial contribution every year to our scholarship fund, which in turn makes money back for us because the NCAA rewards us for giving more money," Gannon said. "Really people are contributing to the scholarship fund and then we're also allowing that to get another contribution from the NCAA, so really it's a double contribution that they're providing. We are about five scholarships away [from the maximum] now and when we started this process we were 20 away, so it has made a significant impact on our scholarship dollars and what we're able to do with our student-athletes."

The eighth annual Walk for Redhawks will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday in the Student Recreation Center.

"For me this particular year just shows to me how valuable it is because for us to be able to sign a student-athlete like Siena -- and granted she hasn't stepped on the field yet, so she has a lot to prove -- but she definitely has the potential to be one of the best defensive players that we've had in the history of our program," Nelson said of the Walk for Redhawks. "And that says a lot because we've had some amazing student-athletes go through and earn all-conference honors, and, for me, I guess I'm very proud of what we've done in terms of the Ohio Valley Conference recognition that our student-athletes have had. As a coach when you have a chance to add a player to the program that you feel is going to fall in line with not only the current athletes but the tradition that we have in our program, that's absolutely huge."

About $75,000 was raised at last year's event, which features a 30-minute walk around the Southeast campus, and Gannon said this year they're about halfway to the goal of $80,000. All money raised goes to fund scholarships for Southeast student-athletes. Registration is $25 for an adult and $10 for children and can be done upon arrival Saturday morning.

"I think this particular signing with me is huge, but the other thing I'd really like people to understand about the Walk for Redhawks is that it also is a significant way in which we fund our summer school opportunities for our athletes," Nelson said. "That allows them to continue to develop on a year-round basis so that we can be competitive in the OVC. It also provides those kids that take that opportunity a chance to have more balance in their lives during the competitive season because we ask so much of them in terms of training, travel, competitions, studies and community service that any time we can help them have a little bit more balance in their life that's a benefit to everybody."

Nelson, along with her husband and associate head coach Paul Nelson, assistant coach Adam Kleman, the entire Southeast soccer team will be in attendance. Nelson said that she hopes several family members of her student-athletes make the trip down and that the family of Meg Herndon, a former soccer player who died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident during her senior season in 2012, attends every year and will sell St. Louis Cardinals baseball tickets to raise money for Herndon's memorial scholarship fund.

The majority of the Redhawks coaches, student-athletes and athletic department staff also will be in attendance at Saturday's event.

"For me any time my student-athletes can interact with our community it's a win-win on both sides because it's extremely motivational for the people that are giving either time or monetary donations to our program and it's motivating for our kids to make that connection and see that they are valued in this community," Nelson said.

Check-in and registration, which includes a T-shirt, will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and after opening remarks the walk will begin. If there is inclement weather the walk will be inside the recreation center.

There will be inflatables, face-painting done by student-athletes and games for kids in attendance. Andy's Frozen Custard, Chick-Fil-A breakfast and Pepsi products will be provided along with other snacks. There will be prizes such as team apparel and a raffle for a Cardinals ticket package.

When the event was originally called the Walk for Women, Gannon intended for it to be an event that raised money for female athletes, but it never worked that way due to Title IX compliance. The proceeds have always provided scholarship money for male and female student-athletes and the name was changed to Walk for Redhawks prior to this year to clear up confusion about who it benefited and who could participate.

"It's just wonderful to see how the university, the community and our athletics department has really embraced this," Gannon said. "Any time you have an idea it's never a good idea until you have people help you bring it to life. That's what I've had. I've had wonderful people in the community that have supported this for every year that we've had it. Like I said, it's just a great opportunity for the university, the community to show once again how wonderful they support us as an athletics department, as a university, and particularly how they support our student-athletes who come from all over not just the country, they come from all over the world."