"...let
the official record say Mari-Rae Sopper, when last
seen, was headed toward her dream"
--Mike
Sharples, former Head Coach, ISU
Headlines
for September 11th, 2008
In
Memoriam: Mari-Rae Sopper
Last
Update: Sept 11th, 2008
*
In Memoriam: Mari-Rae Sopper
Today
we honor the heroes of September 11th, 2001,
including those who lost their lives. One
of those people, Mari-Rae Sopper, closely
touched the collegiate gymnastics community. As
you may know, Mari-Rae Sopper was Head Coach
of the University of California, Santa Barbara's
women's gymnastics team. She was also
a former standout collegiate gymnast and
team captain for Iowa State. Many
of you knew her in the capacity of coach,
teammate, competitor, colleague and friend. In
hours and days following 9/11, many of us
suddenly realized the person we knew as "ISUFan",
an enthusiastic supporter and contributor
on the OutOfBoundsNess Collegiate Gymnastics
Forum, was actually Mari-Rae.
Mari-Rae
Sopper had given up a career as a successful
lawyer in D.C. and took a large cut
in pay to pursue her dream. As Head
Coach of the UCSB program, she was determined
to save the program from elimination. She
had chosen to devote herself fully
to the sport she loved and to live her dream.
You can find out more about Mari-Rae's
remarkable life, courage and enthusiasm
at the memorial
web site
set up by her family. After the tragedy, her
family set up the Mari-Rae
Sopper Memorial Gymnastics Fund
to honor her memory and to extend her dream.
The nonprofit fund seeks to support
women's gymnastics at the collegiate and
youth level. It has a full 501(c)(3)
tax exempt status with the IRS. The
Fund has already begun engaging in supporting
the sport, and is a partial sponsor of the
College Bound Invitational. Please
use this
link
to find out more about the Fund; honor her
memory by supporting it if you can. You
can now donate online, using this
link.
Today
we honor the heroes of September 11th, 2001,
including those who lost their lives. One
of those people, Mari-Rae Sopper, closely
touched the collegiate gymnastics community. As
you may know, Mari-Rae Sopper was Head Coach
of the University of California, Santa Barbara's
women's gymnastics team. She was also
a former standout collegiate gymnast and
team captain for Iowa State. Many
of you knew her in the capacity of coach,
teammate, competitor, colleague and friend. In
hours and days following 9/11, many of us
suddenly realized the person we knew as "ISUFan",
an enthusiastic supporter and contributor
on the OutOfBoundsNess Collegiate Gymnastics
Forum, was actually Mari-Rae.