Philanthropy comes in several forms at Old Dominion, one of which is corporate sponsorship.

This fall, for the fifth straight year, the university was fortunate to have Stihl Inc. of Virginia Beach sponsor its annual soccer tournament. Old Dominion has hosted the tournament for 26 years.

Since 1997, thanks in larger measure to company president Fred J. Whyte, the Stihl Soccer Classic has featured exciting competition with some of the nation's top programs. Over the past five years, such schools as Cal-Berkeley, Army, Princeton and Georgetown have competed in the event.

"Stihl Inc. has been active in supporting the Hampton Roads soccer community for a number of years," said Whyte. "We feel this tournament is a great opportunity to further solidify our existing relationship with the sport, as well as to help its growth."

Stihl's sponsorship helps fund operating costs of the soccer classic and includes a substantial gift to the Intercollegiate Foundation's scholarship fund.

According to Ed Fraim, director of athletic development, Stihl's sponsorship is a natural. "The company was founded in Germany and it has a long tradition of supporting soccer," he said. "We've had a wonderful relationship with Mr. Whyte and his firm as the title sponsor. He takes an active interest in the tournament and, in fact, some of our former soccer players have worked - and some still work - for Stihl."

Not surprisingly, men's soccer coach Alan Dawson is likewise a big fan of Stihl and Fred Whyte. "Their support has been invaluable to us. We use our Stihl Classic tournament to gain national exposure, which enables us to recruit some of the country's top student-athletes," Dawson said.

One of seven manufacturing facilities in the Stihl Group, the Virginia Beach operation employees approximately 1,100 people and ships power tools to more than 70 countries around the world. In addition to its reputation as the world's largest selling brand of chain saw, Stihl manufactures more than 1.5 million power heads each year for 62 different models of electric- and gasoline-powered tools.

To learn more about the university's Dominion Colleagues program, established this year to foster partnerships between Old Dominion and businesses in Hampton Roads, visit www.odu.edu/development and click on Corporate and Foundation Relations, or contact Lisa Murray at lmurray@odu.edu or 757-683-4471.