BATON ROUGE — Senior James Cluskey of the LSU men’s tennis team earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference Community Service Team released by the league office on Wednesday.
Throughout his four-year tenure as an athlete at LSU, Cluskey has exemplified leadership on the courts as well as in the community.
In past years, Cluskey participated in Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Strides and Rides to encourage children during the race, and in his senior season, embarked on many community endeavors, especially involving local children.
The Dublin, Ireland native kicked off the fall by participating in LSU’s Halloween BOOzar and from there participated in two Big Buddy Events.
In Big Buddy’s Day of a Mentor, Cluskey allowed two elementary students to shadow him and see a day in the life of a college student-athlete. He also participated in Big Buddy’s Evening of Champions to talk with the children and help serve as a positive role model.
The 6-6 senior has spent numerous hours at local Lanier Elementary, first as a part of Real Men Read, a program encouraging males first through fourth grade to read more books, then twice more to read to other classrooms.
In addition to reading to local children, Cluskey also spearheaded a toy drive at Christmas to help give an underprivileged Baton Rouge boy a better Christmas.
Cluskey helped pass out awards to children at a Special Olympics bowling event in Baton Rouge and also visited Our Lady of the Lake to help cheer up patients and their families in the children’s ward.
In addition to impacting the youth, Cluskey also volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul to help feed visitors to the shelter, as well as participated in the ALS Walk for Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The SEC sponsors the Community Service Team in each of its 20 sports. The Community Service Team highlights SEC athletes that give back to the community through superior service efforts.
2009 SEC Community Service Team
Andrew Felsenthal, Alabama
Taylor King, Arkansas
Johnny Hamui, Florida
Josh Varela, Georgia
James Cluskey, LSU
Devin Britton, Ole Miss
Ryan Farlow, Mississippi State
Thomas Stoddard, South Carolina
Davey Sandgren, Tennessee
Vijay Paul, Vanderbilt