July 6, 2006
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Santa Clara women's soccer player Brittany Klein was named the Comcast Community All-Star Award winner for the month of April. SCU Director of Athletics & Recreation Dan Coonan and Comcast representative Keshila Vallot presented the award to Klein at a SCU baseball game this season. Her award recognizes her work with Habitat for Humanity in San Jose.
Klein, a sophomore from Arcadia, California, took the lead on a Habitat for Humanity project in which she organized the rest of the women's soccer team into a group that helped build houses for a day in San Jose. She is also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which is a group of student athletes from every varsity sports team at Santa Clara that work together not only to address issues of student-athlete welfare but also to serve as leaders in the community.
"Brittany has been a great representative for women's soccer," commented SAAC leader Steve O'Brien. "She has been extremely involved in a number of SAAC's community outreach programs."
"Brittany is an extremely dedicated and motivated student-athlete at Santa Clara and has developed into a very strong leader on our women's soccer team," added assistant coach Erin Chastain. "We are proud that Brittany is using her energy and motivation to make contributions within our community. She is very deserving of this recognition."
Along with her efforts off the field, in two seasons she has been a large asset to the women's soccer team, starting 25 of her 43 matches and scoring three goals, two of which were game-winning strikes. She was named to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2004 and also to the Santa Clara adidas Classic All-Tournament team in 2005. Klein has seen action with numerous U.S. Youth National Teams over the last few years.
The award, which is presented monthly during the academic year by Comcast, was introduced last year to spotlight the positive contributions that SCU student-athletes make in the local community. Women's water polo athlete Bryn Asher received the award in March for her work with various volunteer groups involved with engineering, which was her academic major.