Penn players to help at local clinics

The members of the Penn women's basketball team won't be attending the NCAA Women's Final Four at the First Union Center this weekend -- they'll be too busy. The Quakers are volunteering at several events in and around Philadelphia that are being held in conjunction with the Final Four. At various times between tomorrow and Sunday, the Quakers will be working at the NCAA's Hoop City, an "interactive fan festival" at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. And for four hours on Saturday morning, the Quakers will be working with the NCAA's Youth Education through Sports clinics. At five sites throughout the Philadelphia area, the YES clinics will bring together coaches and student-athletes from local colleges with area students aged 10-18. The stated goal of these clinics is to "help area students develop sports skills and to encourage academic achievement," according to a press release from Philadelphia Women's Basketball 2000, the Final Four's organizing committee. "The free sports clinics feature enriching activities suited to the developmental level of each participant," the release continues. "Basically, [the clinics are] just a way for us to give the kids some attention, and hang out with them and show them what basketball's all about," Penn co-captain Diana Caramanico said. The Quakers, along with athletes from Rowan and St. Joseph's, will be conducting these activities across the Delaware River at Williamstown High School in Williamstown, N.J. The school is the site of the area's largest clinic, with approximately 480 kids taking part. "That's a lot," Caramanico said. "We're going to end up like at summer camps probably, with 10 or 15 kids per person." Penn coach Kelly Greenberg, who will not be involved in the clinics, saw the number of students at the Williamstown site as a tribute to the huge strides the sport of women's basketball has made and to the increased popularity of the sport. "I think that just the number of girls at this one site is very impressive and says a lot," Greenberg said. "The number of girls that play basketball now as compared to when I was younger is amazing." Greenberg also believes that, through events like the YES clinics, those currently involved in women's basketball have a responsibility to encourage the growth of the sport among younger children. "As women's basketball coaches and players, that's a duty of ours to make sure that [development] is happening at that level," Greenberg said. Greenberg's players know the importance of clinics and summer camps in the development of a student-athlete. "That was really how I started to play," junior guard Claire Cavanaugh said. "I made my first basket at a St. Joe's camp. "I love it, I've been a camper all my life. I remember idolizing the counselors, so it's cool to be on the other end." For Cavanaugh, the major benefit of a camp or clinic is that it makes the game of basketball and the idolized players more accessible. "You get to see that [the players] can be really cool or really fun and still be tough out on the basketball court," Cavanaugh said.

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