On January 20, Warriors players Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Justin Holiday and Brandon Rush visited Jamtown in Oakland for a Step Up Your Game basketball clinic with 180 Bay Area high school students. As part of the Warriors and The California Endowment’s Step Up Your Game initiative, the players engaged the youth in basketball drills and encouraged them to work hard in school, make good choices and live a balanced lifestyle.
“I am excited to be here with the kids today to talk about working hard in school and in their activities this year, and hopefully they had fun learning about the game with us,” said Barnes.
The student groups from Hayward High School, San Lorenzo High School, East Oakland Youth Development Center, Youth UpRising and the Richmond Police Activities League arrived at Jamtown and threw on a blue Step Up Your Game t-shirt before warming up on the facility’s courts. The East Bay high schoolers were then amazed to find the four Warriors basketball players joining them in the building to sit down for an assembly-style Q&A.
The players were introduced by Warriors Hype Woman Ruby Lopez, who asked them about staying healthy and focused on their games all year long, and how the students can learn from their experiences.