CLEVELAND — With the excitement of Cleveland hosting the NCAA Women’s Final Four, the impact reaches far beyond the hardwood at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“Literally, the entire country is talking about women’s basketball and their eyes are on Cleveland,” said Melanie Seiser, Cavs VP Youth Sports and Community Development. “There’s not much more we could ask for right now.”
There are a lot of opportunities happening across the region.
On Wednesday, building confidence was the name of the game at the Aflac-WBCA’s girls skills clinic powered by Adidas and the Cavs. About 200 middle schoolers from Cleveland Metropolitan School District participated. They received a bag of Adidas sportswear, including new sneakers, socks, shorts, and a shirt.
This is a critical age, said Seiser.
“It’s very scary if you look at the statistics of young women who drop out of sports,” she said. “They drop out of sports at about double the rate of boys their age. Most quit before the age of 13 when most of them are developing a lot of their self-worth and learning self-esteem.”
Having coaches pour time and treasure into them is invaluable, and so is seeing the sport’s biggest stars play in their hometown, on the biggest stage and in such a big way.
“I don’t want to say too much here, but I haven't heard a lot of talk about the men’s tournament,” smiled Seiser. “But I'm certainly hearing a lot about the women’s!"
Young women are watching, and seeing the stars of today being celebrated to such great fanfare encourages and inspires them to reach for the stars.
‘It’s inspiring because now you can turn on the TV and finally see players that look like you,” said Tristan Williams, a sophomore varsity basketball player for Laurel School.
Women are showing off their talents, she said, and finally getting the attention they deserve. Members of the varsity basketball team at Laurel School say it’s important and overdue.
“The importance of all this is just to show that women can do exactly what men can do, and possibly even better,” said Nyla Edwards, freshman varsity basketball player at Laural School.
The Gators placed second this year at state for Division II.
News 5 anchor Katie Ussin talked with the team's starting lineup, which includes all freshmen and sophomores, including Saniyah Hall, one of the best sophomores in the country.
“It really impacts me because it makes me feel like I can tell the world about my talents,” said Saniyah—talents she hopes to take pro.
“Hopefully make an impact just as everyone else is doing,” she said. “And to also be in the WNBA one day.”
It is a young team to watch, a team that loves watching and learning from the best players who they can't believe are now in their city.
‘It feels great watching everyone prosper and knowing they were once in my shoes,” said Jordyn Meyer, freshman varsity basketball player at Laurel School. “It just brings so much hope.”
“It’s just showing that we can do anything, and there’s no limit,” said Chloe Johnson, a sophomore varsity basketball player at Laural School.
