Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Wrestles Autism, Raises More Than $3000 In Preseason Community Effort
October 29, 2007 | Wrestling
Head coach Chris Ayres and the Princeton wrestling team has spent countless hours preparing for the 2007-08 season, but it doesn't mean the team has forgotten about their responsibilities to the community. The team took a preseason break recently to raise more than $3000 for the Walk for Autism and Autism Speaks organizations.
On Oct. 21, the team traveled to Mercer County Community College to assist the organization Autism Speaks. Through their mergers with the Autism Coalition for Research and Education (ACRE), the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), and, most recently, Cure Autism Now (CAN), Autism Speaks is now one of the largest foundations dedicated to autism in the world, with more than 130 employees, and walk chapters across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. More information on the organization can be found here.
"This was the first of two community service events this year to promote a commitment to civic duty within the team," Ayres said. "We are a team in the strongest sense of the word, and community service allows us to give back, as a team, in a way that strengthens the bonds between Princeton Wrestling and the community, but also strenghtens our intra-squad relationships as well. This first event was a tremendous success in that we raised a significant amount of money for a good cause and we truly had fun doing it."
Princeton will open its season Nov. 11 at a tournament hosted by The College of New Jersey. The home portion of the schedule will not begin until a Jan. 5 meet against Rutgers.