Women's Basketball Volunteer for City of Mesa Youth Sports

On Monday several members of the Lady Thunderbirds basketball team spent their morning engaged in a community service project, teaching their sport to a group of nearly 40 kids.  

Building up to the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics later this week, the City of Mesa Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a weeklong, Olympics themed camp for kids in 1st - 6th grades, and the Lady TBirds were the inaugural clinicians.  

Initiated by T-Bird assistant Ben Nelson through connections he has within the Positive Coaching Alliance, he and coach Kori set up the date with City of Mesa reps and provided the players who were eager to engage this energetic bunch.  

They led the campers through a dynamic stretching warmup and then a series of dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork, and agility drills.  

After a brief break in the action they gathered everyone together for several more rounds of timed station work which the campers thoroughly enjoyed.  

Several claimed that their favorite drills throughout the day were those with the agility ladder and hurdle while others enjoyed dribble tag and relays.  

Mesa coaches quickly noticed one familiar face with a tie to their Thunderbird program. Former player Haley Vennard had a niece and two nephews who participated.  Her niece Bailey, who often attended games while her aunt played for the T-Birds from 2010-2012, was one of the campers and her skills easily placed her as one of the most skilled little people in attendance.  It was exciting to see and the coaching staff noticed that her skills could rival Haley's one day.  

Freshman point guard Takara Wade (Desert Vista HS) even joined in the action, showcasing her push-up skills and accompanied by some of the tiny campers.  

It was a great way to highlight her growth in the weight room which her team has spent many hours in this summer.  

At the conclusion of the camp the kids posed for a group picture with the Lady T-Birds then for a series of selfies with their newfound college pals.  

Ultimately a good time was had by all and the Lady T-Birds did a great job in their first community team function leading into the 2016-17 season.