May 7, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
University of Maryland competitive cheer head coach Lura Fleece has been honored by Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., with the 2004 Female Achievement Award, the organization announced. Fleece will be honored at a May 29 banquet in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Past recipients of the Female Achievement Award include U.S. gymnast Amanda Borden, Sports Publisher Clearly Simpson and dancer Paula Abdul.
Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., is the only national youth football, cheerleading and dance non-profit organization offering all programs to boys and girls ages 7-16. The organization is unique in that it is the only youth sports organization requiring academic proficiency of its participants, and that it awards the top 1% of those participants for their academic achievements. In doing so, it recognizes its top national scholar-athletes at an Annual Awards Banquet.
"One of the most prestigious honors awarded by the organization is the Pop Warner Female Achievement Award," Chief Operating Officer Mary K. FitzGerald said of Fleece's award. "We are proud to present this award to a woman who has demonstrated remarkable strength of character and leadership in attaining achievements in her life which inspire others."
Fleece's Terrapins became the first varsity cheer program in the nation in 2003 and boast five regional titles and a seventh-place finish at the National Cheerleading Association Championship. Fleece, a 1991 University graduate, spent 12 years with the Maryland Spirit Squad before taking the reins of the nation's first varsity program.
Also receiving 2004 Pop Warner awards are former NFL quarterbacks Jack Kemp (Warner Award) and Doug Williams (Joseph J. Tomlin Award).
For more information on Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc. or the awards banquet, visit www.popwarner.com
