Oct. 10, 2001

Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team will travel to Australia this coming January to play test matches against all-star teams from New South Wales and Western Australia as they prepare for the spring 2002 regular season schedule.

While in Australia, the team will be headquartered at the Notre Dame-Australia campus in Perth. The matches against New South Wales will be played at the Olympic Park in Sydney giving the team an opportunity to visit many of the cultural areas around that city. During the team’s stay in Perth, they will also have a chance to visit Rottsnest Island which is an important place in the Aboriginal culture and the Great Barrier Reef.

“One focus of the University is to provide student-athletes with opportunities to broaden their experiences. Notre Dame has the highest percentage of students studying abroad of any major university,” says head coach Tracy Coyne.

“A key goal of this academic year is to embark on our first foreign trip since becoming a varsity sport in 1996. It affords our players with a valuable learning experience, one that will significantly impact their lives.

In an effort to defray the cost to each of the players, the team is holding a raffle and sports auction to raise money to support the trip. The raffle will be for tickets to the Notre Dame-Tennessee football game on Nov. 3rd at Notre Dame Stadium. The grand prize includes four tickets on the 50-yard line, four pre-game sideline passes and a parking pass. Second prize is four tickets on the 50-yard line and a parking pass, third prize is two tickets on the 50-yard line and parking while the fourth and fifth prize is two tickets for seats between the 40 and 50 -yard lines. The tickets are being sold for $10 each, three for $25 and a book of 15 for $100. The drawing will be held on Oct. 22, 2001.

A Sports Memorobilia raffle is the second fundraiser being planned. The grand prize for this raffle is a Joe Montana autographed Notre Dame football jersey. Second prize is a Joe Montana autographed Notre Dame football helmet, third prize is a 1977 Cotton Bowl Championship football autographed by Montana and fourth prize is a women’s lacrosse jersey autographed by the 2002 team. Tickets are being sold for $10 each, three for $25 and a book of 12 are $100. This drawing will occur on Nov. 17, 2001.

For more information on the fundraisers, contact the women’s lacrosse office at (219) 631-8352 or contact by e-mail at wlax.wlax.1@nd.edu.