SPARTANS HOST SPORTS CLINIC FOR CLEVELAND YOUTH...
CLEVELAND, OH (September 18, 2008) - What do approximately 250 Cleveland elementary students and 100 Case Western Reserve University student-athletes have in common? How about sports and pizza?
For this year's photo gallary click here.
Case Western Reserve will hold its sixth annual Case for Community Day on Friday, September 19 [from 12:00 - 3:30 p.m.]. Last year, Case faculty, staff and students invested nearly 400,000 hours as volunteers in the community which included some help from the Spartans.
Case Association of Student Athletes (CASA) in conjunction with the Case Western Reserve Athletic Department held the first annual Case for Community Day Sports Clinic in the fall of 2007 and, do to its overwhelming success, will do so again this year.
“We had a great time with the kids last year, and we're happy to have the opportunity to give back to the community again,” said Kate Pollard, CASA President and senior swimmer.
The day will begin with some slices of Rascal House pizza for lunch. Then after a brief welcome to campus, the youngsters will begin six stations of sports skills [basketball, football, soccer, track and field and volleyball]. The Cleveland area youth will get the opportunity to learn from All-Americans and Academic All-Americans. A year ago, the nationally ranked football team went one step further in their instruction.
“Last year one of the [elementary] kids started dancing after he caught a pass, so we all started dancing,” explained Case Western Reserve starting quarterback Dan Whalen. “It turned into a brief touchdown dance clinic. It was nice to be able to provide them with an opportunity they normally wouldn’t have and it was great for us to not have to worry about school for awhile.”
Third through eight graders from five Cleveland Municipal schools, including Franklin D. Roosevelt Academy, Bolton Elementary School, Forest Hill Parkway, Daniel E. Morgan School and Mary McLeod Bethune School will also be awarded medallions provided by the University’s Center for Community Partnerships and draw strong backpacks courtesy of CASA.
“The Sports clinic is a great opportunity for the athletes to get involved with the community,” said Andrea Wojtowicz, CASA community service chair and junior women’s volleyball player. “The elementary kids really enjoyed the experience last year and we hope that they bring just as much excitement and energy this year.”
BASKETBALL BACK … Although the Case Western Reserve men’s basketball team would love to be part of the Sports Clinic, they will participate for the fifth consecutive year at an off-campus site. This year the Spartan roundballers are headed to the old Buckeye area of Cleveland for a large scale landscaping project in conjunction with the Buckeye Area Development Corporation.
"For the last five years our players have made a positive impact on Cleveland's East Side during Case for Community Day,” said Head Coach Sean McDonnell. “The event has always provided our team with a forum where they've been able to help others, bond as a team, and have a good time meeting members of the local community. I continue to be proud of their efforts."
ABOUT THEIR CAUSE … The Buckeye Neighborhood was a long self-sufficient Hungarian neighborhood from the early 1900s to the 1970s. It had the nickname Little Hungary, and it was home to the largest population of Hungarians outside of Hungary. Every storefront was occupied by the many businesses that provided goods and services for the community. In the 1970s, the Hungarians moved out and the neighborhood population shifted. Disinvestment on Buckeye Road was at an all time high in the 1980s. Storefronts were vacant, crime was on the rise and residents were moving out. Buckeye Area Development Corporation began implementing its housing renovation programs in the mid 1980s and began to rehabilitate commercial buildings in the early 1990s. Private developers also began to reinvest in the neighborhood. Day care centers, a strip mall and a record store all surfaced on Buckeye Road. These developments have helped stabilize the area both socially and economically.
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