Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/6/11
From Press Release
Trip Ashley, a redshirt freshman for the two-time defending Colonial Athletic Association champion University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team, was honored this past Friday by NativeVision for outstanding youth service leadership.
Ashley, a defender from Wilmington, Del. (Tower Hill School), was honored at the 16th Annual Evening with the Stars Banquet held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Dec. 2.
NativeVision is an unprecedented enrichment and empowerment initiative for Native American youth and their families, operated by the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, in partnership with the National Football League Players Association. It was founded in 1996 in response to a call to action from Ret. General Colin Powell, when he led the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Youth.
The hallmark of the NativeVision Program is the annual summer camp, which rotates to different reservations across the country each June. Over 60 professional athletes from six sports volunteer each summer to serve as coaches and mentors for 1,000 native children who attend the camp.
Beginning in 2007, Ashley began his volunteer service with the NativeVision annual summer camp. By 2009 he mobilized three other students from his high school to join him. He ultimately became the youth service team leader and managed six youth volunteers from Delaware, Maryland, and California.
At annual NativeVision camps, Ashley and his team performed massive feats of manual labor – setting up and breaking down all six sports clinics, setting up meals for up to 3,000 tribal community members, and serving the vast needs of children and professional athlete mentors who participate. In the course of one three-day camp, Ashley and his team hauled more than 50,000 pounds of water and equipment—including thousands of balls, sticks, nets and tackling dummies.
“Trip has been a great motivating force,” said NativeVision co-founder and Ashley’s aunt, Allison Barlow “His team paused at no task. They worked tirelessly – 14 hours a day in heat and wind, never tipping a smile.”
In addition to his service at past NativeVision camps, Ashley and two former teammates at Tower Hill, David and Stephen Kullman, worked through friends and families of Tower Hill Boys Lacrosse to raise over $10,000 for NativeVision over the past two years.
In a statement released by NativeVision: “We celebrate these youth service leaders tonight because they honor the spirit of NativeVision. That spirit is one in which people from across America…from all walks of life join forces to make the world a better place. We salute you and thank you, and can’t wait to follow your bright paths into the future!”
The 6-6 Ashley will battle for significant playing time this spring for the Blue Hens after sitting out the 2011 season as a redshirt. The Blue Hens, led by head coach Bob Shillinglaw, have captured the CAA title each of the past two season and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament each of those years and four times in the last seven years.
An honor student at Delaware, Ashley was a three-sport standout in lacrosse, soccer, and basketball at Tower Hill. He was a two-time All-State pick in lacrosse under head coach and former UD assistant Brad duPont and earned All-American honors as a senior when he led the Hillers to the state title.
For more information on NativeVision, contact Allison Barlow at 410-614-2072 or abarlow@jhsph.edu.
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