Join the Bucs and help the community

Are you a football fan? Do you like helping out and volunteering in your community? Would you like to watch live football games and hang out at Raymond James Stadium? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a great opportunity for you. The Bucs' Student Advisory Board is accepting applications for the 2002-2003 season through Friday.

The Buccaneers are the only football team in the NFL to have a student advisory board. The board is made up of 40 high school students in grades 9 through 11 during the 2002-2003 school year. The board is a place for motivated teenagers to come together and volunteer in the community.

"The Buccaneers started the Student Advisory board as a way to bring intelligent, highly motivated students together to serve as liaisons between the team and the schools. With the students' input, we develop community service and marketing projects that they participate in to help develop their leadership skills and strengthen the Tampa Bay area community," said Stephanie Waller, the Bucs' director of community relations.

Board members attend meetings, volunteer with players and their families, attend benefits and parties, help out in the community, pass out Bucs merchandise within their schools and attend games.

The Student Advisory Board is also a great place to meet other teens with a sense of purpose and a fun attitude. Over the year, board members spend a lot of time together and become very close friends.

"I got to meet Tony Dungy, had great seats at the games and play football at the Joshua House with Mike Alstott and Dave Moore," said board member Ricky Harb, 16, a 10th-grader at Berkeley Prep in Tampa.

"The meetings are a lot of fun and every time I go it seems like we always walk away with a bunch of free autographs and stuff," said Lisa Bardwell, 17, an 11th-grader at East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs.

To become a member, go to www.buccaneers.com or check your school's student newspaper for an application. The advisory board is selected during the summer.

For more information on how to become a Student advisory Board Member, call (813) 870-2700 ext. 274. The deadline is Friday.

-- Candace Sharrow, 17, is in the 11th grade at East Lake High School in Tarpon Springs, and was a member of the Buccaneers' Student Advisory Board last season.

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