Just weeks away from tipping its season off against UMass Lowell, the Maryland women’s basketball team has added a new member: 5-year-old Ashlyn Barrett. However, unlike the rest of the players, who were recruited before signing on with the Terps, Barrett was drafted through Team IMPACT, a Boston-based organization that strives to improve the lives of children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.
The program matches children with a local college athletic team, of which the child will become an official member. As a result, the players gain a life perspective they would not otherwise have been able to.