SportsGirl 2005!

MAGGIE DUNNE, a freshman attending the Scarsdale High School, has been named New York State's "SportsGirl 2005" by the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company and its Winterfresh and Juicy Fruit brands.  The award honors one female athlete from each state who excels in sports and who demonstrates superior leadership skills on and off the field of play.  As New York State's SportsGirl 2005, MAGGIE DUNNE has designated the Rye Figure Skating Club as the recipient of a $250 donation, which will be made in her honor.  MAGGIE DUNNE said: "I am truly honored and thrilled to be recognized by the Women's Sports Foundation and the Wm. Wrigley, Jr. Companies as 'SportsGirl 2005' for New York State.  The Women's Sports Foundation is an organization that I highly respect and to be recognized by a group that is made up of my heroes is amazing!  I plan to continue my relationship with the Women's Sports Foundation by participating in its Ambassador program, which challenges girls to get other girls involved in sports."

MAGGIE DUNNE has been involved in many sports, including soccer, basketball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, dance and Irish step dancing.  At age 12, MAGGIE turned her athletic focus to figure skating, and with only three years of skating behind her, MAGGIE plans to compete this Fall at the United States Figure Skating Association's North Atlantic Regional skating competition, in the Open Juvenile division.  MAGGIE has passed the intermediate moves test, the juvenile freestyle test and the bronze level ice dance tests.

Off the ice, MAGGIE always has given back to her community.  MAGGIE was a Girl Scout in an "honor troop" for over 6 years and is one of the founding members of the Youth Action Committee, a group of local teens who perform community service projects.  With the support of the Westchester Skating Academy in Elmsford, New York, MAGGIE DUNNE is creating a Learn to Skate program for girls who have been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  MAGGIE hopes to have this project going by November.

At school, MAGGIE is an excellent student and in 2004, she won the Scarsdale Middle School's speech contest (personal experience category), with a speech about the joys and the heartaches of living with a developmentally disabled sibling.  This speech has been shown to the parents of newly diagnosed developmentally disabled children, to encourage them not to give up hope.

We are appreciative of the opportunity to be associated with such an amazing program.  We know that giving girls the chance to play is important, but we also believe that sports help shape future leaders and are proud to recognize the accomplishments of these 50 outstanding young women, said Dominique Dawes, Women's Sports Foundation's President.

Sasha Cohen teamed up with Wrigley and the WSF to encourage girls to enter the award competition.  Cohen was most recently honored by the United States Olympic Committee as the 2004 top female skater and the 2005 March athlete of the month.  The SportsGirl 2005 awards program sponsored by Wrigley and the WSF is a wonderful outlet for young girls to be recognized for all of their accomplishments, and I am proud to be a part of promoting this opportunity, stated Cohen.  �Being an athlete has provided me with so many positive experiences and has given me the confidence to be a leader within my sport.