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U.S. Sports Envoys Spoelstra, Fizdale and Wicks Conduct Basketball Clinic for Metro Manila Youth

A San Beda College basketball player stoops low for stability and to protect the ball with his body, then bends his knees and shifts the pressure to his toes to spring to action as he follows instructions from Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra (left). The College’s basketball team and young basketball enthusiasts, as well as coaches and professional players in neighborhoods and schools in Manila’s Mendiola area made up the 200 participants in an afternoon of training and tips from Spoelstra and his two fellow Sports Envoys on July 30. In a visit to the Philippines on July 29-August 1 under the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Envoy Program, Spoelstra, Miami Heat Assistant Coach David Fizdale, and former U.S. Woman NBA all-star Sue Wicks conducted basketball clinics in Zamboanga City, Pasig City, San Juan City, and Manila’s Mendiola and San Andres districts. The Sports Envoy Program engages youths worldwide in discovering how success in athletics can be translated into life skills and achievement in the classroom.
Jubilant in their victory against the boys’ team, members of the girls’ team carry their coach Sue Wicks during a basketball clinic at the La Salle University in Metro Manila’s San Juan City on July 29. Wicks, currently the Assistant Basketball Coach of the St. Francis College Terriers in New York, was in the country July 29-August 1 with Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Assistant Coach David Fizdale as part of the U.S. Department of States’ Sports Envoy Program. The three Sports Envoys conducted basketball clinics in Mindanao and Metro Manila to engage youth in discovering how success in athletics can be translated into the development of life skills and achievement in the classroom.
A group of girls from among 200 participants in the July 31 basketball clinic at the San Andres gymnasium in Manila’s Malate district keep pace with Miami Heat Assistant Coach David Fizdale in a warm-up exercise. Fizdale, Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra, and former U.S. Women National Basketball Association all-star Sue Wicks conducted basketball clinics in Zamboanga City and Metro Manila during their visit to the Philippines on July 29-August 1 under the U.S. Department of State’s Sports Envoy Program. The clinics brought together basketball players from selected colleges and high schools, out-of-school youth players, and professional players and coaches.
Erick Spoelstra (third, right), Head Coach of the U.S. National Basketball Association (NBA) team Miami Heat, receives the symbolic key to the city from Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim’s chief of staff, Richard de Guzman (third left), during a ceremony welcoming Spoelstra and his fellow U.S. Department of State Sports Envoys David Fizdale (right) and Sue Wicks (not in photo). The Sports Envoys conducted basketball clinics in the city’s San Andres district for college and high school student basketball players and out-of-school youth in the district and neighboring areas on July 31 and August 1 as part of a U.S. State Department sports outreach program. Spoelstra is the only Filipino-American head coach in the U.S. NBA and is the association’s youngest head coach. In interviews during clinics that he and fellow Sports Envoys conducted in Zamboanga City and Metro Manila, Spoelstra lauded the Filipino youth’s enthusiasm for basketball, their stamina, and ability to learn quickly. In the photo with them are (from left): Manila City Sports Council Chairman Niño de la Cruz, Manila City Administrator Jesus Mari P. Marzan, and U.S. Embassy Cultural Affairs Officer Martha Buckley.

Last Update :: 08/04/2009

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