University of Connecticut Athletics
Edsall To Play In Travelers Pro-Am
6/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
June 11, 2009
STORRS, Conn. - Connecticut sports fans have much to look forward to in the last week of June-- the Travelers Championship, the state's largest professional sports event returns and will include a dynamic Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am featuring Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen, University of Connecticut coaches Jim Calhoun, Chris Dailey and Randy Edsall and former University of Connecticut star and current University of Hartford women's basketball coach Jennifer Rizzotti.
The Travelers Championship will be held June 22 - 28, 2009, at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. As the only PGA TOUR event in the Northeast in early summer, the Travelers Championship is one of the region's premier sporting events.
The Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am will be played on Wednesday, June 24 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn. Tee times for the Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am will be between 6:50 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. and 11:50 a.m. - 1:50 p.m. These initial commitments to the Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am player field will be joined by Hollywood stars and sports legends as well, with the majority of celebrity guests scheduled to tee off mid-day. Exact tee times for each player will be announced closer to the event.
"We are pleased to welcome Ray and the coaches to the course this summer, and we look forward to sharing an exciting list of additional celebrity guests shortly," said Tournament Director Nathan Grube. "The Travelers Championship is a landmark event on the Connecticut sports scene and we are pleased to partner with the universities to deliver a great experience for sports fans in the state."
University of Connecticut alum and current Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen was a member of the 2008 Boston Celtics NBA Championship team and is a nine-time NBA All-Star. Allen was also a member of the gold-winning 2000 Olympic team. Allen played under Coach Calhoun at UConn from 1993 - 1996, where he earned All-American status and won Big East Player of the Year. In 2001, Allen was named honorary captain of the UConn All-Century Basketball Team.
Jim Calhoun recently completed his 22nd season as head coach at the University of Connecticut and his 36th year as a collegiate head coach. Under Coach Calhoun, UConn has captured two NCAA National Championships (1999, 2004), 16 BIG EAST Championships, ten regular season crowns and six tournament titles. Coach Calhoun was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and is also a member of the Founding Class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, announced in November of 2006. In addition, Calhoun and his family are highly active in regional and national charitable efforts.
Randy Edsall has been the head football coach at UConn since 1999. Under Edsall's leadership, the Huskies have quickly become a national contender since their move to Division 1-A in 2000 and to full member status in the BIG EAST in 2004. Edsall led the team to their best season ever in 2007, during which they finished 9-3 and were invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Last season, the Huskies finished 8-5 and defeated Buffalo in the International Bowl in Toronto.
UConn women's basketball associate head coach Chris Dailey recently completed an exciting 24th season at the university, in which the team ranked a perfect season en route to winning the school's sixth National Championship. Under direction from Dailey and Head Coach Geno Auriemma, the powerhouse Huskies have recorded a remarkable 21 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including ten Final Four appearances. On top of her busy coaching schedule, Dailey is active in various philanthropic activities and is a popular public speaker. In addition to her appearance in the Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am, Dailey will be the keynote speaker of Travelers Championship Women's Day on Thursday, June 25.
Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti has built the University of Hartford women's basketball program into an America East power in just nine years, winning four conference tournament championships over the past seven years and making four trips to the NCAA tournament. Rizzotti, a two-time America East Coach of the Year (2005-06, 2006-07) is also the winningest coach in the school's history. Rizzotti was a member of the University of Connecticut's National Championship team in 1995, and then went on to play eight years in the WNBA.
The Travelers Celebrity Pro-Am is one featured event of a dynamic tournament week at the Travelers Championship which will also feature a women's day, activities for kids, an evening concert series and a new on-site Fan Zone. Tickets are available now on TravelersChampionship.com.
Primary beneficiaries of the Travelers Championship are The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, serving children facing serious illness, and the Greater Hartford Jaycees, a leadership development and community service organization. The event is sponsored by Travelers, a leading provider of property casualty insurance for home, auto and business. Travelers has been doing business in the community for nearly a century and a half, and today has approximately 7,000 employees in the Greater Hartford area. The Official Property Casualty Insurer of the PGA TOUR, Travelers has been a sponsor of this event each year since its inception in 1952, becoming title sponsor in 2007. Complete details are available on www.TravelersChampionship.com.
