[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 28 (Monday, July 18, 2005)]
[Pages 1154-1156]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Honoring NCAA Championship Teams

July 12, 2005

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Not you. * Welcome to the South 
Lawn of the White House for Championship Day. Today we have the largest 
group of NCAA champs ever gathered at the White House, and we want to 
thank you all for coming. I am honored to be joined on stage by the 
captains of the 15 teams that we're honoring today. Thank you all for 
being here. Congratulations for being such strong leaders.
    * The President's remarks were directed to team captains.
    I appreciate the Members of Congress who have come today. Welcome. 
We're proud you're here. I want to thank the coaches and athletic 
directors who are here today. But most of all, I want to congratulate 
the men and women who have conducted themselves in the field of play in 
such a manner that they're called champions. Welcome.
    UCLA has won more NCAA championships than any school in the Nation, 
so it's fitting that three of the champs here today wear the uniform of 
the Bruins. Back in December, the UCLA men's water polo team

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won the national championship with an overtime victory against Stanford. 
Congratulations, and welcome. This spring the UCLA women's water polo 
team beat Stanford to win the national championship. Welcome to the UCLA 
women's polo team. And finally, the UCLA men's team won the national 
championship. I had an honor to meet all three teams. I'm glad you're 
here. Thanks for coming. Congratulations on a job well done.
    And then we have the Georgia Bulldogs, who are well represented 
today. [Applause] It's the South Lawn. Behave yourselves. [Laughter] The 
Georgia men's golf team posted a wire-to-wire victory at the NCAA 
champions. In the final round, interestingly enough, all five of 
Georgia's golfers shot the same score, even par. That's called 
consistency. The Georgia women's swimming and diving team brought home 
their fourth NCAA championship. Interestingly enough, the Lady Bulldogs 
won all five of the relay races. And finally, the Georgia women's 
gymnastics team is with us today. They started the championship meet 
seeded number 12 and came out number 1. Congratulations to the teams 
from Georgia.
    Two of the teams here made history by winning their schools' first 
national championships in their respective sports. The Northwestern's 
women's lacrosse team posted an undefeated season. Twenty-one straight 
victories got them here to the White House. Congratulations to you all.
    And then the Michigan women's softball team is here today. One of 
the women asked me if I wanted to hit against her. I said, ``I don't 
think so.'' [Laughter] This will interest you. The first 33 games that 
the Michigan women's softball team played were on the road. It turns out 
it's a little chilly in Michigan about softball time. They won 32 of the 
33. It was an auspicious beginning to a championship season. Welcome to 
the Michigan women's team.
    Two of the teams here are celebrating a championship for the second 
year in a row. The Stanford women's tennis team finished with an 
undefeated season and a repeat national championship. They beat the 
Texas Longhorns in the finals.
    The Minnesota women's hockey team--the Gophers beat Harvard last 
year to come to the White House; they beat Harvard this year to come to 
the White House. Congratulations to the mighty Gophers of Minnesota.
    The Auburn men's swimming and diving team is celebrating a three-
peat. Congratulations. Glad you all are here. Thanks for the Speedo. 
[Laughter] I'm not going to wear it--[laughter]--in public that is. 
[Laughter]
    The Duke women's golf team is here to celebrate the national 
championship in--they were in 2002. They're back. Coach Brooks of the 
Duke women's golf team has now won three national championships with the 
Blue Devils. That ties him with Coach K. Therefore, he shall be known as 
Coach B--not bad. [Laughter]
    The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team is with us today. And 
Congressman Elijah Cummings is here to honor them. Johns Hopkins 
compiled a perfect record and pulled out a 9-8 victory to win the first 
championship they've had in almost two decades. Congratulations to Johns 
Hopkins.
    The Pepperdine men's volleyball team is with us today. They brought 
the championship trophy back to Malibu in the first time in more than a 
decade. I want to thank them for the gift, Surfboard One. [Laughter]
    And finally, we honor the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team. It's the 
third national championship they've won in the past 4 years.
    It's such an honor to have you all here. I want to thank you for 
being champs on the field. I want to thank you for being champs off the 
field. I know you know this, but there's a lot of boys and girls who 
watch you all to determine what it means to be a champ. You probably 
don't realize it, but when you're in the field of play, there's a lot of 
kids wondering what it takes.
    And therefore, when you serve your community, you're teaching a kid 
to read, or when you take the extra time to set a good example, you 
really are affecting people's lives. See, you have a responsibility as a 
champ, not only to win contests for your respective schools and set 
personal goals and achieve them, but I think you have a responsibility 
as a champ to set a good example. And I've read about the mentoring 
programs

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and the hospital work and all the good works that you have done, and I 
want to thank you for setting such a good example.
    Again, welcome to the White House. If you're a junior or a 
sophomore, work hard and come back. I'll be here to greet you. In the 
meantime, may God bless you all and your families. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 10:48 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Dan Brooks, head women's golf 
coach, and Mike Krzyzewski, head men's basketball coach, Duke 
University.