Williamsburg, Va. - The College of William and Mary's Athletics Department will hold a weekend's worth of activities to celebrate the long and distinguished history of its women's athletics programs, student-athletes and coaches. 

Erica Walsh, a 1997 women's soccer graduate of William and Mary will be the featured honoree.  Walsh is the current Women's Soccer Head Coach at Penn State and Assistant Coach for Women's National Team, Silver Meadlist at the 2011 World Cup.

The weekend's activities will start on Saturday evening with a reception at the Crowne Plaza Fort Magruder Hotel.  Walsh will be honored during Sunday's Celebration Brunch, which will be held at W&M's Muscarelle Museum of Art.  The program is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.  Ousterhout and Kaplan will be presented with the Tribe Champion for Life Award and One Tribe Award. 

For more information, or to register online visit www.tribeclub.com/cwa or contact Lisa Starbuck at (757) 221-1599 or via email atlastar@wm.edu.

The following is more info on the weekend's events.

About Celebration of Women's Athletics

The Celebration of Women's Athletics originated to highlight the history of W&M's women's athletics programs and to recognize the dedication and determination of former varsity athletes.  In our second year, we intend to continue in bringing together female athletes and coaches to celebrate shared successes on and off the field - and to honor women whose experience in intercollegiate athletics has shaped their personal, professional and charitable lives. 

In keeping with one of the elements of the College's strategic plan and mission statement, our goal is to create a lifelong connection to the College.  Accentuating the contributions of former student-athletes to the College and its athletic program provides an important link in reaching that goal.

The Celebration of Women's Athletics has chosen Erica Walsh as the 2011 Honoree.

In addition to our Celebration of Women's Athletics Honoree, we also like to recognize two other former student-athletes who have used their experiences on the field to find success off the field.  Our Tribe Champion for Life award goes to an alumna who has demonstrated leadership, integrity, fortitude, and excellence in her personal, professional or philanthropic accomplishments.  This year our award goes to Jo Ousterhout.  Ousterhout is a 1976 graduate of the college and participated in field hockey.  Ousterhout will be recognized for her leadership, integrity, fortitude and excellence in her highly successful professional career first in banking and then as the head of two different start-up companies.  Most recently, Jo has been the CEO and co-counder of Metta Journeys, a philanthropic travel company that immerses donors in the onsite work of carefully selected partner organizations and communities they serve.  Jo has lived and worked in the US, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London. She and her husband, Jeff Fergus, have recently moved from London to Washington D.C., where Jo is working through various organizations to strengthen the voices and roles of women in U.S. politics.

Our other award honors a former student-athlete who has significantly contributed to her local community or a non-profit organization and has inspired others to do the same.  The recipient of our One Tribe Award is Lauren Kaplan McKetta. Lauren is a 2005 graduate and a former basketball player.

Weekend Events

Our weekend begins on Saturday evening (April 14) with a Welcome Reception at the Crowne Plaza Fort Magruder that is free to all attendees starting at 6 p.m.  It is a great opportunity to mingle with former student athletes as well as current ones.

The highlight of our event is the elegant Awards Brunch held at the Muscarelle Museum on Sunday morning, starting at 11:00 am.  There we will recognize our Honoree, as well as the recipients of our two additional awards.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available at www.tribeclub.com/cwa.