DRACUT, Mass. – UMass Lowell celebrated women's athletics with its second annual River Hawk Open on June 22 at Four Oaks Country Club in Dracut.
 
"This was a great opportunity to come together to celebrate women's athletics," said Nicky Champagne, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences and a member of the River Hawk Open Planning Committee. "So many of us women leaders at UMass Lowell have a history of being athletes in high school and college, and to come out and celebrate women's sports was really fun. Being on the planning committee was a great opportunity to bring together the athletic side of the house with the academic side of the house, and really create some new partnerships and new opportunities for our student-athletes and our campus in general."
 
After kicking off the inaugural installment of the event on the 50^th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the tournament was an astounding success in 2023, selling out the field of golfers.
 
"To sell this out in its second year, we as a committee felt so accomplished," commented UMass Lowell Field Hockey Head Coach Shannon LeBlanc. "We know we had a great event last year, but we really wanted to grow it, and clearly the group that was here last year had such a great time that they told their friends, who told their friends, and then within a few weeks, this was sold out.
 
The event drew more than 150 attendees, including 128 golfers and 47 alums. Strikingly, 66% of the field was made up of women.  In total, over $7,000 was raised through this year's event for the female student-athlete support fund.
 
"I didn't get to go last year, and I was upset about it because everyone had a good time," stated softball alum Courtney Cashman '20. "It's something you look forward to because you get to be with your friends, your teammates, the people that mean so much to you. It's that family vibe. And it's an important event because it raises money for women's athletics, and it just shows how important women's athletics are with everybody coming out to it. I enjoyed hanging out with people I went to college with, and it's good to be competitive with them on the golf course, in a different sport."
 
"I've been an alumni supporter of this school for four decades at this time, and what has happened, particularly over the course of the last 15 years, is the reach out from the school to the alumni community has never been greater," explained football alum Dave Janeczek '82. "Coming back to these events has never been more fun and inclusive, particularly today's event celebrating women's sports and how important they are to each and every one of us as individuals. We want to see this continue, that's the reason I continue to support UMass Lowell Athletics, UMass Lowell as a school, UMass Lowell as a total program."
 
The event featured an 18-hole tournament with a shotgun start, followed by a lunch program that included raffles, video highlights from all of the River Hawk women's teams and remarks from UMass Lowell's chancellor and a former two-sport student-athlete, Julie Chen.
  
 
"We had such a great group and such a diverse group," comment LeBlanc. "We had donors, we had former athletes, we had current coaches on the men's and women's side, we had staff members, and then we just have a great group of alums that really want to come back and support athletics in general here, but specifically women's athletics, which makes it feel like we've accomplished something, especially in just year two."
  
The River Hawk Open was created in 2022 to honor and celebrate the successes of UMass Lowell women's athletics programs and provide an opportunity for both women and men to connect with their peers on the golf course. Thank you to our tournament sponsors who make the day possible, with special thanks to our Lunch Sponsor, Litman Gerson Associates (LGA)
 
"We need to continue to cultivate women leaders," concluded Champagne. "We are really looking to lift people up and to give people opportunities to network with individuals that maybe they would not have access to on another day, so I think these events that really celebrate women for all of the strength that they bring and all of the opportunities that they have to become the future leaders of athletic departments, of colleges and the university for that matter, are of the utmost importance."       
 
Registration is already open for next year's River Hawk Open, which will be held on Thursday, June 20, 2024. Sign up here to receive an early registration discount that locks in the 2023 price.
 
If you would like to donate to the female student-athlete support fund, please click here.