Two girls grab for a rebound, while Caitlyn Dragon and Valerie Boling look on.
"Shooting for A's" Provides Fun for Local Youth
4/1/2005 11:34:50 AM | Women's Basketball, Women's Lacrosse
As part of Syracuse University’s ‘Cuse Cares community outreach program, Orange student-athletes participate in “Shooting for A’s”, which originated in the late 1990s. “Shooting for A’s” is a four-week campaign held Wednesday evenings at Manley Field House. The second installment took place this past Wednesday and featured student-athletes from women’s lacrosse, track and field, women’s soccer, volleyball and speakers from the women’s basketball team.
The “Shooting for A’s” program, which is facilitated through the Syracuse Parks and Recreation Department, will conclude on Wednesday, April 13 in the Manley Field House arena. The program is comprised of girls, ages 9-13, who participate in academic and athletic competition.
In the “Shooting for A’s” program, each week the participants read books and discuss their opinions with the group. After the academic portion, the fun moves into the arena for athletic competition. The participants and student-athletes worked on soccer skills before playing a game of basketball and running a variety of relay races.
In between the academics and athletics, one of the girls showed her talents by braiding the hair of women’s lacrosse captain Caitlyn Dragon.
In addition, each week a guest speaker talks with the group about their experiences with teamwork, cooperation and leadership. For the first week, SU linebackers Kellen Pruitt and Kelvin Smith addressed the group. On March 30, women’s basketball senior Chineze Nwagbo spoke to the girls and freshman Mary Joe Riley answered questions.
“It’s all about balance,” Nwagbo told the girls of playing college sports. “You have to focus on your academics and you can have fun playing basketball.”
The program concludes with pizza and prizes, which included a calculator and women’s basketball poster. Each of the girls had Nwagbo and Riley autograph the posters. The final two weeks of the program will run from 4:30-6:30 on April 6 and 13. Future student-athletes scheduled to volunteer include members of the football, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer and men’s and women’s basketball teams. Shooting for A's is just one of many ‘Cuse Cares community service projects SU student-athletes are involved with in this area. The ‘Cuse Cares Program, supported by Citizens Bank – New York, is the community outreach program for student-athletes at Syracuse University. SU’s student-athletes have been recognized with SU’s Chancellor’s Award for Public Service in each of the past eight years for their volunteer efforts in the community. Citizens Bank, currently doing business in New York under the Charter One Bank name, invests in and is a leader in the communities it serves.
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