The men’s and women’s basketball teams at Cabrini University made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a day of service rather than a day to relax by teaching children from around the area some basketball skills in the Dixon Center on this past Monday morning.
Photo by Matthew Santangelo.
This is the 19th year of this event, where students from first to eighth grade are all come together to learn about basketball and about Martin Luther King Jr.’s service to America. All proceeds from the event are donated directly to the Community Action Agency of Delaware County for use in their homeless shelters. Registration was $30 and participants in the event also received a free t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. The children were also asked to each bring a non-perishable good to be donated to the same organization.
“It’s just a great morning for kids to get out, burn some energy,” Kate Pearson, the head women’s basketball coach at Cabrini, said. “And for our players to have an opportunity to give back and to use what should be a day off as an opportunity to serve others.”
Photo by Matthew Santangelo.
Tim McDonald, head coach of the Cabrini men’s basketball team, talked about how the day was set up for the children. He said there were various stations set up for the kids where they would learn the fundamentals of basketball. Some of these fundamentals that he listed as part of the event were shooting, passing, rebounding, defense and agility drills. The children also got to play alongside the college players at the end of the event.
Milton Robinson, a freshman marketing major, is a shooting guard on the Cabrini men’s basketball team and helped out with the Hoops for the Heart Clinic. He said he helped out with similar events in high school and earlier this year at Cabrini. He felt that this event went very smoothly and that they got done everything they set out to do. He also said that the kids had fun which is the “main objective” of the event.
Photo by Matthew Santangelo.
“I’m a transfer… so this is my first time doing it,” Hannah Fenstermacher, a sophomore exercise science and health promotions major who is also a shooting guard on Cabrini’s team, said. “I did something similar at my old school but…I think it went a lot…smoother here.”
Fenstermacher went on to say how her favorite part of the day was the three versus three games at the end because the children were given more liberties to do what they wanted rather than just drilling the specific skills.
Photo by Matthew Santangelo.
“Ever since I’ve been here, even as a player, there’s always been a huge turnout,” Amber Keys, assistant women’s basketball coach, said. “I think even today we have 80, maybe 90, kids. So, it’s always been a huge success.”
Keys said that she used to help out with this event when she attended Cabrini as a student and is grateful for the opportunity to help continue the tradition, now in a coaching position.
