SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's golf program won the inaugural UTSA Former Student-Athlete Challenge, a fundraising contest to see which sports program could have the highest percentage of its former student-athletes donate to UTSA Athletics.
Women's golf saw 66.7 percent of its former student-athletes donate to the challenge. The program will be awarded $5,000 toward its operating budget thanks to a generous gift from Pat Clynes '89.
"We are very excited and thankful to win the first-ever UTSA Former Student-Athlete Challenge," ninth-year head women's golf coach Carrie Parnaby said. "It means a great deal to our program to keep our alumni close and informed.
"With it being only the 11th year of women's golf at UTSA, our alumni group is still very young. Winning this challenge shows their competitive spirit and pride in UTSA. I'm proud of the way they came together and encouraged each other to win this contest. We are also so grateful for Pat Clynes and how supportive he is to the UTSA Athletics as a whole."
Men's golf finished second with 36.6 percent while having the highest total number of donors. Football (9.5 percent) narrowly edged out baseball (8.9 percent) for third place.
Launched on May 1, the UTSA Former Student-Athlete Challenge included all former student-athletes who made a gift between Sept. 1, 2015, and Aug. 31, 2016. Gifts could be designated toward scholarships or the operating budget of the sport of each donor's choice.
A record total of 145 former student-athletes made donations, which accounted for a 439 percent growth in giving by that group from the previous fiscal year. It also helped find 94 first-time donors to UTSA Athletics.
For more information on the Student-Athlete Society or to make a gift to UTSA Athletics, please contact Victor Yates at (210) 458-6333 or victor.yates@utsa.edu.
