OSWEGO, NY – The SUNY Oswego women's basketball team spent some of their free time at the Oswego YMCA volunteering for the Her Time To Play national initiative from the WNBA.

Her Time To Play is a national initiative from the Jr. NBA and WNBA co-created with the Women's Sports Foundation for girls age 7-14. The program pairs on-court training with off-court life skills lessons to build confidence and to prepare them for the challenges of adolescence. This program is meant to inspire the next generation of girls to play basketball in a positive and healthy way.

This is the 4th year the Oswego YMCA has presented the program and invited the SUNY Oswego Women's Basketball players to bring the program to life. Each year, they welcome 30 girls ages 7-17 to the Oswego YMCA for the program and weekly 5 to 6 different members of the Lakers. In addition, we have several other volunteers including assistant coach Jim Muckey.

Trish Levine (SUNY Oswego Alumni '86) is the Director of Health and Wellness at the Oswego YMCA and has led the program all four years She is certified through the WNBA to run the program and is provided access to all Her Time To Play's Belonging in Basketball resources, which were created in partnership with the Girls Leadership organization. The program resources are new this year and focus on belonging – in basketball and in life. Program materials are culturally responsive and healing centered, designed for and by girls.

Levine noted that the program discussion teaches participants "This is me - I know who I am off the court. I know who I am on the court, and I love who I am."  She added that the format is uniquely varied and includes a wellness check-in, a basketball/life curriculum topic, skills & drills then a cool-down/wrap up, each week. Wrapped into the basketball skill are the skills they can use off the court such as confidence building, teamwork, playing fair, and building friendships.

Wellness check-ins are quick activities to build the social and emotional muscles of self-awareness, empathy, and compassion for others. The check-in could be energizing, centering or reflective.

Her Time To Play's Belonging in Basketball curriculum is a collection of 36 lessons across 3 age groups (7-9, 10-12, 13-17) designed to ground players in creating a space to be brave and make mistakes.

The skills and drills portion, rely on the experience and knowledge of our SUNY Oswego Women's players and other YMCA volunteers, including Christine Pritchard, a retired educator and former women's basketball coach at Ithaca College. This portion of the program offers time to learn basketball drills, introduce basketball to young ladies that may not have played previously, but it helps to improve players and provide a better understanding of the game.

In addition to their knowledge of the sport, the Lakers serve as mentors to the young ladies in the program, sharing experiences from on and off the court. 

This program was a terrific fit for the Oswego YMCA to bring to the community as we measure the success of our cause by how well we engage our community in our three areas of impact -
Youth Development – nurturing the potential of every child and teen.
Healthy Living – improving the health and well-being of everyone in our community.
Social Responsibility – giving back and providing support to our neighbors.