Birmingham, Ala. – LSU Soccer freshman Emerson DeLuca earned SEC Community Service recognition as she represents the Tigers on the 2024 team, announced by the league on Wednesday.
The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 23 league-sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.
The honor marks the first for DeLuca in only her first year at LSU. The 20th annual women’s soccer Community Service Team follows:
Brooke Steere, Alabama
Brooke Steere has served as a leader for the Alabama soccer team both on and off the field. During the 2024 season, Brooke and the Crimson Tide visited the breast cancer patients at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, where they listened to stories and talked with patients. Out of season, she volunteered with Reading Allies twice a week, helping young, below grade-level readers meet reading standards. Steere has also helped at the local animal shelter, providing a much-needed break and companionship to the animals, and has assisted with Halloween Extravaganza, an event that brings the Tuscaloosa community together with the Alabama Athletics Department through fun and games.
Van Fitch, Arkansas
Van Fitch currently serves as the Community Engagement executive chair for SAAC and leads the team in community engagement efforts. She is heavily involved in community efforts that include youth sports, mental health, and community advocacy.
Jaycie Silhan, Auburn
Jaycie Silhan makes an impact in her community serving through both her church and various medical centers. With Auburn’s Church of the Highlands, Silhan has spent time mentoring and leading middle and high school students as a small group leader, student ministry leader, “Dream Team” volunteer and 252 intern. She uses her faith to build community and serve as a role model for children in the Auburn-Opelika area. She also donates her time by assisting with day-to-day preparatory activities around the church. Silhan also gives back while furthering her education by spending numerous hours as an assistant at a pediatric clinic and an orthopedic clinic in Auburn as well as an executive surgery center back home in Texas, working in patient relations as well as assisting her various physicians and medical professionals with all needs. She has earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Award on three occasions for having completed over 100 hours of community service in one year.
Paris Bice, Florida
Sophomore Paris Bice has volunteered more than 72 hours for community service events since enrolling at UF in fall of 2023. Bice is a regular at Gainesville’s Metcalfe Elementary School as part of the Gators Lunch Buddies Program to read with kindergarten students. Bice made several shoes and socks deliveries as part of the Gator Tracks program, which distributed more than 400 shoes/socks to Gainesville area youth in December of 2023. She’s also participated in the Special Olympics Race for Inclusion event, hospital visits and working with children at camps or field days. In the summer of 2024, Bice was among a dozen Gator student-athletes who traveled to Spain for a 10-day trip. That GatorsLead Global trip included service events in different sites across Spain.
Ellie Gilbert, Georgia
Georgia midfielder/defender Ellie Gilbert has served her community in a variety of ways. This spring, she worked with Feed My Starving Children, helping to provide 38,880 meals to 106 children in the Athens-Clarke County area. She also participated in Girl Power Day, volunteering to coach young girls and help inspire them to pursue their dreams of competing in collegiate sports. For two seasons, she has spearheaded Georgia soccer’s relationship with Extra Special People, working with individuals with developmental disabilities and inviting them into the program. Gilbert has also worked with the Athens Humane Society as an assistant working with homeless animals, as well as volunteering with Hometown Heroes and the Atlanta YMCA’s food packaging efforts.
Tallulah Miller, Kentucky
Miller has been an engaged member of the Lexington community while at Kentucky, volunteering her time for several events and organizations. Miller has assisted the Southeastern Conference with setting up classrooms and backpacks at a local Dallas elementary school for the upcoming school year, assisted with golf activities with the Special Olympics of Kentucky, and packed meals with the Lifeline Christian Mission for hurricane victims. Miller serves as the President of the University of Kentucky Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, an organization that represents student-athletes at the University of Kentucky, seeking to ensure UK Athletics provides each sport and every student-athlete with a quality environment and the essentials to be competitive as a student-athlete and a team. Miller was selected as one of two University of Kentucky Athletic Department representatives to participate in the SEC Leadership Council in the Spring of 2023 and was named to the SEC Community Service team in 2023.
Emerson DeLuca, LSU
In her first year at LSU, Emerson DeLuca participated in multiple community service events in Baton Rouge, including representing the Tigers at Geaux Day, Athletes for Hope, and visiting cancer patients at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.
Hailey Cloud, Ole Miss
Cloud participated in the Adopt-a-Basket program in which the athletics department donates over 100 Thanksgiving baskets to families in need throughout the Lafayette-Oxford-University Community (LOU) ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. She assisted with the Feed the Sip initiative which is a food sustainability project within the Stronger Together MS Initiative. Volunteers assisted in the collection and donation of non-perishable food items that benefit elementary students within the Tunica and Quitman counties. Cloud has been a part of OPC Coaching in which each soccer student-athlete dedicates their offseason to coaching a little league soccer team, where they mentor young players in the fundamentals of the game. She helped collect over 6,000 non-perishable food items and hygiene products for the MS Tornado Relief project, in support of those recently affected by the tornado in the Mississippi Delta. The volunteers later visited the affected area to participate in a community clean up ahead of the rebuild. Cloud has been active in Reading with the Rebels to increase and support reading literacy throughout the state of Mississippi. Volunteers visit and read to local elementary schools. Cloud was a volunteer with A Night to Shine, in which The Tim Tebow Foundation hosts an annual community-wide prom night event for community members with disabilities. She participated in the CASA Superhero Run which raises money to fund events and initiatives that take place throughout the year. Ole Miss Athletics women’s sports teams visited the Oxford Park Commission to mentor and inspire the younger generation in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Cloud participated in Hygiene Hijack in which teams, coaches and staff collect hotel toiletry items that are donated to the campus Violence Intervention and Prevention Services. She also has been an active member with RebelTHON in which the university campus departments host a 12-hour dance marathon to raise funds and awareness for the local Children’s of Mississippi Hospital, while celebrating the strength of their patients and families.
Maddy Anderson, Mississippi State
Maddy Anderson has demonstrated a strong commitment to community service throughout her time at Mississippi State, participating in a wide array of impactful initiatives. She contributed to the MLK Day of Service, dedicating her time to honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through hands-on community work. Anderson also made two visits to Goldton at Adelaide, where she engaged with residents and fostered meaningful connections with members of the local senior community. Her involvement with the TK Martin Center further showcased her passion for inclusivity and support, as she not only assisted at the center but also participated in their annual Fun Run, promoting awareness and raising funds for individuals with disabilities. Beyond individual events, Anderson took part in the SEC Food Fight, a canned food drive designed to help combat hunger, demonstrating her leadership in collective efforts to address food insecurity. She also joined the Partnership Dodgeball event, participating in a fun and energetic activity that brought the community together for a charitable cause. Anderson’s dedication to service extended to her involvement with Starkville Strong’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors initiative, where she contributed to local recovery and support efforts during times of need. Through these diverse volunteer experiences, Anderson consistently exemplified her commitment to making a positive impact on both her campus and the broader Starkville community.
Jenna McCormick, Missouri
A senior with the Tigers, Jenna McCormick leads the Missouri soccer team in community service hours going above and beyond to serve her community. McCormick is a consistent volunteer at Jenny’s Wildlife Wonderland, a nonprofit wildlife rescue, and the Central Missouri Humane Society. In addition, the senior was heavily invested in the Special Olympics assisting with numerous organizational events throughout the year. McCormick promoted healthy living for children at the Show-Me State games and also worked a shift at The Food Bank For Central And North Missouri. A member of the 2023 community service team, McCormick has completed 238 hours of community service during her collegiate tenure.
Cailey England, Oklahoma
Throughout her career at Oklahoma, Cailey has been a servant leader focused on others in her community. She has served with multiple organizations including the Mission of Hope Haiti Foundation, her local homeless shelter, the Celtics FC youth soccer program, Eisenhower Elementary School, Adams Elementary, and the Belterra Marlins youth swimming program. England spearheaded efforts to pack 100,000 meals with Mission of Hope and has devoted much of her time to serving as a volunteer coach with a local youth soccer program. Following an ice storm, Cailey helped organize a food and clothes drive for the local homeless shelter, providing 20 large boxes of items.
Taylor Fox, South Carolina
Taylor Fox is the current Chair of Community Service Committee for USC’s SAAC. Fox volunteers at The Therapy Place weekly, which is an organization providing ‘traditional and innovative therapies and recreational opportunities for children with special needs.’ Fox helps run different stations and find ways to have fun with the kids, both inside the classrooms and outside on the playground. Fox is also the Captain of the Dream On 3 team at USC, which has been “One of the most amazing experiences I’ve had during (her) college career”. Dream On 3 is a non-profit organization whose mission is to make sports dreams a reality for children with life-altering conditions.
Ally Zazzara, Tennessee
Zazzara currently serves as a Team IMPACT student fellow, where she represents the organization on her campus and collaborated with the athletic department and greater campus to raise awareness and increase program participation. Additionally, she was part of the 2024-25 VOLeaders Academy that cultivates student-athlete leaders through sport to create positive social change.
Megan Hogate, Texas
Throughout her time on the Forty Acres, Megan has been on two international service trips, one to Costa Rice in 2021 and one to Guatemala in 2022. She’s been a member of the Texas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since Fall 2022. In 2023, she served on the SAAC E-Board as the Community Service Coordinator. She’s helped spearhead service efforts with Longhorn Halloween, TANCsgiving and a Valentine’s Drive for Dell Children’s. In April 2024, she was the league of Texas’ inaugural Special Olympics Field Day and was selected to participate in the NCAA Career Sports Forum over this past summer.
MaKhiya McDonald, Texas A&M
McDonald is active in community service work through numerous avenues. As part of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she was active in the BUILD volunteer effort to help produce Texas Aggie Medical Clinics which are deployed worldwide. Other community service efforts through her sorority included work with the In My Bag project collecting feminine/hygiene products for shelters and an effort to create supply bags for teachers at Ross Elementary School. Through Texas A&M Athletics, McDonald served as chief business officer of B.L.U.E.print (Black Leaders who Undertake Excellence) contributing countless hours to the organizations efforts to provide enhancement of student-athletes overall collegiate experience. Her other undertakings include work with the Brazos Valley Food bank and a toy drive for the Lincoln Recreation Center
Addie Porter, Vanderbilt
During her four years at Vanderbilt, Addie has played a vital role in integrating community service into her experience as a student-athlete. The Asheville, North Carolina native frequently visits Eakin Elementary, a local elementary school, where she reads with students and assists them with their homework. Additionally, she is involved with Feed the Children, a Nashville-based organization, where she helps package food boxes for those in need and participates in their delivery. Addie has also taken part in two international service trips. In the summer of 2023, she traveled with the soccer program to South Africa, where they volunteered at local soccer clubs, hosted soccer clinics for young children, and distributed equipment to those in need. Most recently, she participated in a Social Impact Trip to Guatemala, where she visited multiple communities with Soles 4 Souls, distributed shoes, taught sustainability concepts to young children, and engaged in science experiments.