BATON ROUGE — The LSU Athletics Department and the Muscular Dystrophy Association hosted the fourth annual “Stride & Ride” event in the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse on Feb. 3.
As part of the Shaquille O’Neal CHAMPS/Life Skills Program, coaches and members of the football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics, soccer, men’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf teams participated in the event. The Tiger student-athletes kicked off the event by singing the national anthem before the race. In addition, LSU athletes set up booths around the track, passed out posters, signed autographs, handed out MDA bracelets and participated in face painting and bead-making.
Teams, which walked or rode around the track at the Fieldhouse, raised $18,000 for muscular dystrophy research. The Muscular Dystrophy Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization fighting more than 40 muscle-wasting diseases that affect hundreds of people of all ages in our community.
Funds raised through MDA special events held provide expert medical care at MDA clinics, MDA summer camps for youngsters, repair and purchase wheelchairs and other equipment and many other services. MDA also funds hundreds of the top scientists worldwide seeking treatments and cures.
The CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success)/Life Skills Program was designed by the NCAA to help student-athletes realize higher academic achievement, increase likelihood of graduation and enter a chosen profession with a higher level of vision, knowledge, motivation, self-responsibility and greater overall success. In spring 2003, the CHAMPS/ Life Skills Program honored one of LSU’s most memorable graduates, Shaquille O’Neal, by naming the program after him.