Women Skate for Autism Awareness Friday

RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Colgate Sports

Tue, Jan 25, 2011

The Colgate women's hockey team will attempt to Light Up Starr Rink Blue during its home game against ECAC opponent, Rensselaer, on Friday at 7 p.m., which will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports. This will be a part of the team's Autism Awareness Project.

The Raiders are looking to have over 1,000 fans help them celebrate their Autism Awareness Project by wearing light blue to the game. The first 250 fans to Starr Rink will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Price Chopper and any fan wearing light blue, the color of autism, will get in for free.

The Colgate women's hockey team will wear autism puzzle-piece jerseys designed by OT Sports during its game against the Engineers on Friday as well as the following game against Union on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. in Starr Rink. The jerseys will be auctioned off through an online silent auction that will begin on Friday, Jan. 28 at 12 p.m. All proceeds from this project with go to Autism Speaks, Family Resource Network, The KelbermanCenter and Project Oz.

“The jerseys are really cool,” stated head coach Scott Wiley. “The team is really psyched to wear them. They have really rallied around this project and have put a lot of energy into it. This is going to be a tremendous success thanks to their hard work and dedication.”

The Raiders created this project in support of Kati Williams, a local teenager from Norwich. Kati has been an avid fan of Colgate Women's hockey for several years and now works as the team manager. She has Asperger's Syndrome, which is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.

The team established an Autism Speaks U chapter earlier this month to support the work of Autism Speaks, North America's largest autism science and advocacy organization. Autism Speaks U engages college students across the country in autism awareness, advocacy and fundraising efforts.

For more information about the auction and the project's events please visit www.colgate.edu/autism.