University of Minnesota Athletics
Stecklein Honored at GGF Scholarship Banquet
10/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Oct. 29, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS - University of Minnesota women's hockey senior Lee Stecklein was honored as the Patty Berg Legacy Award recipient when the Golden Gopher Fund hosted its annual Scholarship Banquet earlier this week.
The Golden Gopher Fund welcomed hundreds of donors and student-athletes to the DQ Club Room at TCF Bank Stadium to celebrate the achievements of Gopher student-athletes and highlight the importance of investing in scholarships. The scholarship banquet tradition also includes three annual awards, recognizing an outstanding donor and a pair of student-athletes. Along with Stecklein receiving the Patty Berg Award, Brett Pfarr (wrestling) received the Henry L. Williams Award, and the Mooty Glaser families accepted the Director's Award.
Stecklein shared how she dreamed of being a Gopher, but never thought it was possible until she was committing to play for the U. "Now that I'm actually here, I realize how many people have been involved in making this experience possible for me," said Stecklein. "Even now, I probably don't understand one percent of what it takes to make my dreams come true. I do know it's not possible without the generosity of the people in this room."
Following her freshman season with the Gophers, Stecklein took a redshirt year to train with U.S. National Team and won a silver medal at the 2014 Olympics. Since returning to school, she has collected two All-America honors and a collection of academic awards from the Big Ten and the WCHA for her work toward an entrepreneurial management degree. Stecklein wore the captain's "C" last year, a rarity for a non-senior, and is currently in her second year captain for the team.
The event also featured a collection of speakers, video features and award presentations. Following a welcome from student-athletes Gaelin Elmore (football) and Simone Kolander (soccer), emcee and voice of Gopher football and men's basketball Mike Grimm guided the program. In addition to the remarks from Athletics Director Mark Coyle, long-time head baseball coach John Anderson and one of his alums, former MLB catcher Dan Wilson, discussed Wilson's time at Minnesota.
"I tell people all the time that I have the best job in the world because I work with young men and women who are chasing their dreams," Coyle shared with the audience. "All of you who invest in our kids should be proud, because you invest in their dreams. You're making a difference for our students every day."
Endowed scholarships provide a lasting legacy because they offer long-term, sustainable support to Gopher student-athletes. By investing the full amount of these gifts and using the returns to fund scholarships, the University is able to use endowments to support scholarships for generations of student-athletes. If you are interested in supporting endowed scholarships, please contact the Golden Gopher Fund at (612) 626-GOLD (4653) or ggf@umn.edu.
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