More and more, NBA players rely on numbers to improve their game. Here’s a statistic that Utah Jazz guard Raul Neto finds concerning: compared to boys, twice as many girls drop out of organized sports by the time they turn 14 years old.
“They don’t have the same support that guys have,” Neto said. “We grow up thinking that basketball or soccer or football is for men. It’s not like that. Girls can be athletes.”
That’s why Neto and his teammate, rookie guard Grayson Allen, showed up at West High School last week for an all-girls basketball clinic. More than 60 athletes from Lehi, Stansbury, Northridge and West high schools in Utah received coaching—on both life and basketball—from the two Jazz players.
“It’s exciting to get to ask them questions about their journey to get to the NBA and how college was,” Northridge guard Taylor Morrissaid. “I’m a senior, so college is coming up.”
The all-girls clinic was part of the NBA’s “Her Time to Play” campaign—an effort to inspire the next generation of girls to play basketball. The program provides girls with training both on and off the court. It also aims to increase opportunities for women in coaching and athletic leadership. Only 28 percent of youth sports coaches are women, according to The Aspen Institute.
“It’s nice to be able to help them grow their game,” Neto said.
While Neto and Allen were there for Friday’s event, other members of the Jazz have also offered their support for the “Her Time to Play” initiative.
“I wouldn’t be hesitant at all to sign my daughter up for basketball,” forward Joe Ingles said. “Not only basketball, but any team sport. It’s not just the competitive part, but making friends outside of school, obviously the health side is great, and just having fun.”
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell’s younger sister picked soccer over basketball. (“She wanted to create her own legacy, which I love,” Mitchell said.) But Utah’s star guard hopes to see more girls involved in the sport.
“You look at the WNBA and the finals they just had,” Mitchell said. “They were girls that just had a dream of playing in their backyard,and now they’re going out there and being elite superstars. It can happen.”
“I’m a parent myself and I wouldn’t want to hold my kid back from anything,” forward Jae Crowder added. “The sky’s the limit, being able to excel at anything and everything. You don’t want to put your kid in a box.”