Amherst, N.Y. – Daemen College Head Men's
Basketball coach Mike MacDonald has announced the addition of a new
member to his team. Twelve-year old Leontae Parker of Buffalo, N.Y.
was formally introduced during a press conference today in the
Lumsden Gymnasium lobby.
Leontae is involved with Team IMPACT, a non-profit program that
aims to improve the quality of life for children facing
life-threatening and chronic illnesses. Core to their model is
harnessing the power of teamwork by matching these courageous kids
with college athletic teams. Team IMPACT children are drafted onto
local college athletic teams and, to the greatest extent possible,
become an official member of the team for the duration of their
treatment and beyond.
"We are excited to have Leontae as a member of the Daemen
Wildcats," MacDonald said. "I've been involved with kids from
Team IMPACT in the past, and I've found it to be a very rewarding
experience, both for the child and his family, as well as for our
student-athletes. We are eager to get to know Leontae and
welcome him into our basketball family."
Leontae is joining a Wildcat team which is about to embark upon
its 2014-15 season, which unofficially opened last night with an
83-81 overtime win over Canisius College in an exhibition game. The
team is coming off a 21-7 campaign last season that saw them
capture the East Coast Conference regular-season championship in
the Wildcats' first year as an affiliate of the NCAA Division II
league. The Wildcats officially open regular-season play this
Friday, November 14 by hosting Concordia College (N.Y.) at 8 p.m.
on the opening day of the East Coast Conference-Central Atlantic
Collegiate Conference (ECC-CACC) Challenge sponsored by The Knee
Center of Western New York.
Learn more about the Team IMPACT program at www.goteamimpact.org.
WILDCAT
PROFILE
NAME: Leontae Parker
AGE: 12
HOMETOWN: Buffalo, N.Y.
FAVORITE NUMBER: 1
FAVORITE COLORS: Red and black
FAVORITE FOOD: Chicken Fingers
FAVORITE ATHLETE: John Cena
FAVORITE HOBBIES: Playing video games and
listening to all types of music
ABOUT TEAM
IMPACT:
Team IMPACT is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to improve the
quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic
illnesses through the power of team. Team IMPACT children are
drafted on to college athletic teams, local to where they live and,
in effect, become official members of the team from Draft Day
through to Graduation. At Team IMPACT, they envision a future where
the lives of children facing the hardships associated with adverse
issues and events will have access to collegiate team-based support
in order to significantly enhance their quality of life in a number
of ways, including; socially, psychologically, physically and
academically. Team IMPACT also strives to provide collegiate
teams with increased levels of awareness, sympathy and support for
the medial and disease communities. Established in 2011, Team
IMPACT has already matched over 570 children with collegiate teams,
at over 270 institutions in 42 states, improving the quality of
life of hundreds of courageous children and touching the lives of
over 20,000 student athletes. For more information, please visit:
www.goteamimpact.org.
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
