Alana Healy Named Winner of USF's Coca-Cola Community Service Award

April 12, 2004

Senior Alana Healy of the University of San Francisco women's soccer team has been named winner of USF's Coca Cola Community All-American award as the student athlete who according to the committee helped make the biggest difference in the community.

A graphic design major, Healy has been a strong presence in the community since she arrived on the Hilltop in the fall of 2000. She has participated in many charitable foundations. She spent a summer as an assistant director for Habitat for Humanity, an organization focused on building houses for low-income families. The organization included building 20 homes in two weeks, as well as securing volunteers and finding sponsors.

Healy is now on the national ballot and is eligible to be one of six athletes named to the national Coca-Cola Community All-American list, which will be announced this summer at the annual National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Convention. The Coca-Cola Community All-Americans program, which is sponsored by NACDA, is designed to help institutions recognize, celebrate and applaud student-athletes who are making a difference in their communities.

Healy also spent time working at Hospitality House, teaching art to under privileged individuals and Erasmus, which is a community-outreach program dedicated to the hands-on study of social justice and political consciousness. Healy also spends time lecturing at schools and running soccer clinics. In 2001, she was sponsored by the University of San Francisco to go to South Africa for six weeks in an effort to help children reconnect with their families and keep them off the streets and in their homes.

Healy is also a strong presence on the USF campus as well. She is a major contributor to the marketing of various events on the Hilltop. She has also initiated a fund-raising campaign designed to raise money for locker room renovations for the men and women's soccer teams. For her efforts on campus, Healy has built an excellent reputation as a student-athlete and a role model to both the students and professors of the University of San Francisco.

"Alana has endless heart and a contagious spirit about her," according to her head coach Pamela Kalinoski. "This is a tremendous honor for her and I am thankful her continuous investment in the well-being of others is being recognized.

"Alana continues to make a conscious effort to help those in need while unselfishly providing support for her teammates and members of the University community," she added.

USF Director of Athletics Bill Hogan stated, "We are very proud of Alana and her accomplishments. She has been an outstanding representative of USF both on and off campus. She is just one of many of our student athletes who has gone the extra mile to make a difference in this world."

Healy, who missed all of the 2003 season with an injury, is hoping to be granted a red shirt year for the 2004 season. In her career, the midfielder has appeared in 41 games, 38 as a starter. She has scored one goal and has two assists in her three-year career. Regardless of her season-ending injury, Healy was an inspiration to her team, spending every game on the bench with her teammates.

Other USF student-athletes that were finalists for the award were Chatess Baguio (rifle), Teresa Russell (volleyball), Michelle Duncan (tennis), Telianne Ho (rifle) and Alfred Bedrossian (soccer).