Giving Children Hope (GCHope), a nonprofit organization based in Buena Park, held a sports clinic called Hoops for Hope on Saturday, May 31.
GCHope was blessed to have a dozen former NBA players and athletes volunteer their time to facilitate a sports clinic for Buena Park kids in GCHope’s nutrition program, We’ve Got Your Back (WGYB). WGYB students from Whitaker, Pendleton, Gilbert, Valencia, and Emery elementary schools and Buena Park High School showed up ready to play.
Giving Children Hope (GCHope), a nonprofit organization based in Buena Park, held a sports clinic called Hoops for Hope on Saturday, May 31.
GCHope was blessed to have a dozen former NBA players and athletes volunteer their time to facilitate a sports clinic for Buena Park kids in GCHope’s nutrition program, We’ve Got Your Back (WGYB). WGYB students from Whitaker, Pendleton, Gilbert, Valencia, and Emery elementary schools and Buena Park High School showed up ready to play.
The children were divided into groups and spent the morning learning new basketball, soccer, martial arts, football, and fishing skills, in addition to learning how to sword fight from Medieval Times knights.
It was most of the kids’ first time to hold a fishing rod and they even had the chance to win their own. Marco A. Lazaro from CYSL-BSA, a local soccer club in Buena Park, helped at the event and invited a boy to join his team. He said he saw great potential in the kid and he should be playing on a team. After lunch there was free play with the athletes. A couple kids received one-on-one lessons from former Sacramento Kings player, David Cooke.
As the children began leaving, one boy yelled, “This was the best day of my life!” It is a gift to be able to give these children a day that memorable.
Rick Darnell and the Legends of Basketball coordinated the appearance of athletes such as Keith Erickson, Paul Clifford, Bob Mitchell, Mike Atwater, Brent Concolino, David Cooke, Ray Price, Amodo Salinas, Kent Williams, John Brewer, Philip Fredman, Jeff Wesson, Tac Clifford, and Dr. Ward Henry to attend the Wells Fargo-sponsored event. WalMart was also a contribor, donating new basketball hoops.
