Jazmine (volunteer), girls and I after training

On November 6th confident was our WOTD (word of the day). While introducing this word the girls and I talked about the process of learning how to brush our teeth. Our parents/guardians teach us, we practice every day, and at some point we do it without thinking about it. All of us in the circle were either confident or growing in confidence in how to brush our teeth.

We then talked about how basketball has a similar process when it comes to repetition. The more we work on form shooting, correct footwork, dribbling with our eyes up, playing defense with our arms out, the more confident we will be in doing those things without thinking about it or being told to do it.

With 9 weeks completed of our 12-week Saturday Skills Clinic myself, parents/guardians, and the girls are seeing the product of repetition. Girls that didn’t know what a layup was are now making layups with correct footwork. Girls are following through on their shots and shooting the ball rather than pushing it. We are seeing the benefit of repetition and consistent, hard work.

Witnessing girls grow in confidence on Saturday mornings through the game of basketball feels like a dream, actually it is a dream. I am thankful for the parents/guardians that trust me with the development of their girls. I am thankful for the girls that show up ready to work hard, make mistakes, and get better. And I am thankful for the TRUCE community that enables TRUCE to walk alongside girls, and their families, on and off the basketball court.

Me at Pitch Night

PITCH NIGHT!

Pitch Night on November 16th was such a great evening! The audience voted my pitch as Best Pitch and I won $500. I also connected with multiple parents that are interested in their girls participating in TRUCE and a few organizations that are interested in partnering with TRUCE. Thank you to everyone that prayed and encouraged me along the way! 

DID YOU KNOW…

“In 2020, the Aspen Institute estimated that only 25% of youth sports coaches were women.” (Project Play, Aspen Institute – State of Play 2020).

At TRUCE we are intentional about surrounding the girls involved in our programs around women. Yes TRUCE will have male coaches/trainers and at the same time our girls will have female coaches/trainers that mentor them and that they can see themselves in.

THANK YOU!!!

Thank you for your support in the mission of TRUCE Basketball. Whether you’ve supported TRUCE with your finances, prayers, encouragement, or guidance I am forever grateful. TRUCE can’t do what it does and won’t be all that it was founded to do without the support of generous and compassionate individuals like yourself. Again, thank you!

Gabrielle Clark – TRUCE Basketball Academy Founder & Executive Director