The Miami HEAT hosted a Youth Basketball Clinic and Female Mentorship Panel presented by Gatorade at the AmericanAirlines Arena. HEAT Players Derrick Jones, Jr. and Rodney McGruder conducted the clinic. Jr. HEAT Ambassador and HEAT Camp Director, Tony Fiorentino, HEAT TV Studio & Radio Analyst, Ruth Riley Hunter, as well as the Hoop Troop, Miami HEAT Dancers and HEAT Mascot, Burnie, also joined them. With January being National Mentoring Month, this event invited up to (50) high school girls from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami for a series of panel discussions on female mentorship and leadership. This group participated in a Q&A formatted discussion that featured a number of diverse female HEAT staffers. Speakers consulted with the students on the importance of mentorship and the role it plays in careers in sports, entertainment and beyond.
Panel speakers included:
- Ruth Riley-Hunter, TV Studio & Radio Analyst
- Brittany, HEAT Dancer
- Clara Stroude-Vazquez, Marketing Manager
- Danielle Delgado, Interactive Marketing Coordinator
In accordance with NBA FIT, this clinic also featured the importance of living an active, healthy lifestyle. The NBA FIT program celebrates the values of the game – hard work, discipline, leadership and teamwork – and features some of the best athletes in the world encouraging fans of all ages to lead healthy, active lives. These programs and events emphasized NBA FIT’s key pillars: “Be Active, Eat Healthy and Play Together”. It also promoted #HerTimeToPlay, a new initiative created by the WNBA and NBA, to mentor the next generation of girls to play basketball in a positive and healthy way and increase opportunities for women in coaching and athletic leadership across the youth sports landscape.
For more information on the HEAT Youth Basketball Program and Jr. HEAT programs, please click here to visit Jr. HEAT