An estimated 120 local youth, mostly boys and girls of color in grades 3-8, participated in two Practice With A Purpose basketball clinics in the basement of Target Center hosted by Minnesota Sports and Events (MSE) and ACES, a local youth organization, during the two Big Ten basketball tournaments.
Gopher alums Kiara Buford, Joe Coleman and Andre Hollins, along with PJ Hill and Andre Ingram, served as clinic coaches. Buford, in her second year doing the clinic, told the MSR, “I love it.”
Added Hollins, “It’s always good to get kids together and build something positive…having fun.”
“It helps bring a level of inspiration to some of these kids,” noted Coleman.
It’s more than basketball, said MSE Special Events Intern Sy’Rai Trice. She is the head lead for Practice With A Purpose. “We just don’t teach them about basketball, but also how important it is to be on a team and working together in the community. We are teaching kids a lot of good lessons that they can use on and off the court.”
MSE and the Big Ten supplied tickets for the youngsters to attend last Sunday’s championship game. “Many of them would not have the opportunity, especially BiPOC kids,” continued Trice.
“A lot of the kids have never been to Target Center or seen a basketball game at this level. I think it’s great and important to give kids opportunities and access to the tournaments.”
More importantly, the youngsters get to interact with POC who are individually successful both as former student-athletes and now as productive citizens in their post-athletic careers, “to see people they can aspire to be in life and doing great things,” said Hollins.
Buford is a U of M athletics administrator, Hollins a General Mills financial analyst, and Coleman is in real estate management.
The youth clinics were among the scheduled ancillary events in and around downtown Minneapolis during the last couple of weeks, which included:
- 3,500 snack packs prepared and distributed to local youth;
- New adjustable basketball hoops and new training equipment for kids in Grades K-5, along with a new mural installed at MLK Rec Center in St. Paul;
- Farview in North Minneapolis received an upgraded scoreboard and sport technology that will allow their teams to host games on their home court again;
- Big Ten Makers Market for handmade goods, artistic creations and unique finds for 50 local creators at downtown’s City Center;
- A “Critical Conversation” on mental health issues held last week.
Tournament Co-Chair Andrea Graham told the MSR last weekend that her team successfully accomplished its primary goal to provide free-to-the-public activities to go alongside the basketball tournaments. “Everything flowed together well and had great attendance,” she reported. “We were able to bring in so many folk.”
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