March 11, 2015
Vanderbilt Athletics is asking Commodore fans attending the Black & Gold Spring Game on March 21 to donate used shoes to benefit Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based anti-poverty organization.Shoes at the Black & Gold Spring Game will be distributed globally by Soles4Souls in its effort to aid the impoverished and help with disaster relief efforts.In 2013-14, Vanderbilt student-athletes have journeyed across the globe participating with Soles4Souls staff with relief missions. In 2013, 21 Commodore student-athletes went to Tanzania in east Africa on a 10-day relief effort. In 2014, 13 more student-athletes traveled on a service trip to Costa Rica in Central America.Soles4Souls containers will be available Vanderbilt Stadium for Commodore fans making donations at the spring game. Gate 2 will open at 11 a.m., March 21, two hours before the spring game starts. Two other fan activities – a surplus sale of official Athletics uniforms and equipment in the stadium concourse and Kid’s Clinic on the playing surface – also start at 11 a.m.Admission to the spring game and all related activities are free of charge. Parking in surface lots across Natchez Trace from the program’s track & field complex also is free.Alison Wenzel, Assistant Director of Student Services for Life Skills and Community Outreach, said the collection enhances the department’s long-time relationship with Soles4Souls.”I encourage every fan attending the spring game to participate in the collection if possible,” Wenzel said. “This drive helps Vanderbilt Athletics foster its meaningful partnership with Soles4Souls. The (summer) service trips we participate in with the organization are extremely rewarding to our student-athletes.”Soles4Souls has distributed more than 22 million pairs of shoesin 127 countries since its inception in 2006.Commodores back in full pads WednesdayThe Commodores were back in full gear Wednesday morning in their work leading to the spring game.Head Coach Derek Mason put the squad through a 90-minute session in the Indoor Practice Facility, focusing attention to scheme development, fundamental instruction, special teams and 11-on-11 team drills.The energetic session was the team’s second since returning from Spring Break and the ninth practice of the spring. With 10 days remaining until the Black & Gold Spring Game, the squad is expected to practice Friday, then stage a scrimmage on campus.
