MIAMI (September 15, 2016) – The school year has started, preseason training and conditioning is in full swing and the 2016-17 college basketball season is right around the corner, but even with their busy schedules, that didn't stop the FIU men's basketball team from getting back out into the community and brightening the lives of some local youth in Miami.
On Saturday, Sept. 10 at Miami Senior High School, players and staff of the FIU basketball program conducted a youth basketball clinic for over 200 children ages 8-10 in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana and its youth basketball program. It marked the fourth year that the Panthers have conducted the clinic.
"The Kiwanis have been doing this basketball league for 40 years now and it's one of the highlights of what we do to give back to this community," said Jerry Fernandez, president of the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. "This league, and clinic, is one of the highlights that the kids look forward to every year, and what makes it even more rewarding is when the FIU players come and teach the children about the game and how to work together as a team."
"It was a great experience," said junior forward
Ronald Whitaker. "The kids were filled with life and joy, and they were excited to see us and we tried to make it as fun as we could for them."
During the two and a half hour clinic, the Panthers ran drills at stations that consisted of ball handling, shooting, defense and passing, in addition to stressing the fundamentals of the game of basketball. The afternoon ended with a question-and-answer session where, the children asked about such things as what it is like to be a collegiate student-athlete and how much work they had to do, and what type of commitment it took to make it to the college level.
As rewarding an experience as this is for the participants, it may be just as rewarding for FIU's student-athletes and staff that are involved.
"The kids love it, the players love it and it's a great experience for everyone involved," said Fernandez. "These are the kids in the community that, a lot of times, don't get to see people like this, they get to look up to them. They get to see what you could be if you work hard. For the kids a lot of times they don't get exposure to these kinds of people, in this kind of town it's a big deal. To the players, they see the impact that it makes when they talk to the kids. It's a rewarding experience for everybody and we love the partnership we have with FIU."
"At first it was kind of low energy," said Whitaker, "but the more I talked to them and fed them a little energy, they responded and that came back on me and hyped me up. The next thing you know everyone was having fun."
Although this is the most recent community service appearance for the Panthers, it certainly isn't the first. During the summer, members and staff of the team visited the Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami on multiple occasions, visiting with sick children, played video and board games with them, sat bedside and read books and interacted with parents.
The team also served meals to homeless children and families, during the summer months, at the Chapman Partnership in Miami. Over the past several years the Panthers have also conducted youth basketball clinics at various Chapman Partnership events.
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUHoops on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUMensBBall) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
#####
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and at the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
