Courtesy: Florida Athletics
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Swimmer Chandler Bray and soccer forward Alyssa Howell are the University of Florida’s nominees for the 2019-20 Brad Davis Southeastern Conference Community Service Leaders of the Year. As Florida’s nominees, each receive $5,000 postgraduate scholarships. Next week, the league announces the overall SEC Community Service Leaders of the Year. That duo receives $10,000 post-graduate scholarships provided by the SEC.
Bray contributed more than 40 community service hours during his Gator career. These include visits to UF Shands Pediatrics to paint with children as part of Caleb’s Pitch, helped with set-up and take-down as well as refereeing a human foosball charity event with all proceeds going toward x chromosome deletion research, Hurricane Irma tree debris clean-up, aiding with preparing food items for Food4Kids distribution and a helping at a Halloween Trunk or Treat event. His most positive experience was working alongside a Little Wood Elementary teacher to help teach basics of reading.
Howell received the 2018 Goodwill Gator Award at the Florida Letterman Awards (FLAs) and represented the Gators on the 2019 SEC Community Service Soccer team. She contributed more than 400 hours of community service as a Gator, with much of it focused on animals as Howell aspires to be a veterinarian. She volunteered at a local veterinarian office and a farm, Alachua County Humane Society, Jungle Friends and UF’s Small Animal Hospital. Howell also participated in many Goodwill Gator events, including Climb for Cancer (annual morning where student-athletes play sports with pediatric cancer patients), Gator Tracks Delivery (Gator student-athlete’ annual holiday delivery of shoes/socks to area children), Aces in Motion (mentor for children in after school care) and Youth Soccer Tours.
Bray graduates in December 2020 with a degree in communication sciences and disorders and Howell received her animal sciences-animal biology degree in December 2019. She’s been accepted to St. George’s University in the Caribbean and begins veterinarian school in January of 2021.
This is the 25th year for the SEC Brad Davis Leaders of the Year. A Gator has claimed the overall award five times, including each of the last two seasons.
Florida Recipients of SEC Leaders of the Year:
| 2001 | Gabby Fuchs | Gymnastics |
| 2007 | Stacey Stevens | Softball |
| 2014 | Patric Young | Basketball |
| 2018 | Grace McLaughlin | Gymnastics |
| 2019 | Sam Ahrenholz | Track & Field |