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Miami Athletics and Preble County YMCA team up to teach Basketball

1 January 2010


Miami Athletics and Preble County YMCA team up to teach Basketball
Miami hosts Thom Townsley Winter Basketball Clinic
www.muredhawks.com
Jan. 14, 2010

Youth basketball leagues of the Preble County YMCA will make their way to Millett Hall for their annual Thom Townsley Winter Basketball Clinic Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week.

The Miami Sports Marketing department saw a need to engage neighboring counties. Through consistent outreach, Miami has been stringing the brand with the surrounding communities. Preble County YMCA latched onto the initiative in 2007.

The 2008-09 basketball season marked the inaugural clinic at Millett Hall. The clinic was so successful in its first year outside of Preble County, both parties agreed to make it an annual affair. The Thom Townsley Winter Basketball Clinic is facilitated by Thom, a former Indiana Pacers' shooting coach, and the Miami Men's and preble_youths_1.jpegWomen's Basketball teams assist with the execution. The 2009 clinic was the site of 150+ youth over a three-day period. Similar numbers are expected for the 2010 clinic.

"The commitment to being a part of the community in unique yet engaging ways has really created win/win opportunities for our student-athletes to learn civil responsibility in the form of giving back to our youth while simultaneously providing our community partners' youth a collegiate experience, stated Anthony J. Azama, Miami's marketing director.

YMCA Program Director Alan Milkis states "We are excited about the growing relationship between the Preble County YMCA and Miami University. Through this partnership the kids in our winter basketball program, along with their parents not only have an enhanced program experience they get exposed to a top tier university that is only 30 minutes away. Not only is there a "wow" factor for the kids getting to play on the court at Millett Hall, but the interaction with the student athletes is something they will remember for the rest of their lives. This also provides a unique experience to Miami's student athletes by allowing them to share their talents directly with the YMCA kids. The impact of this can be just as meaningful for the student athletes as it is for the kids. It is great that Miami University is willing to open it's athletic facilities and resources to the surrounding communities, and hopefully the opportunity for higher education is a seed that gets planted in these children at a young age."

All participants of the three-day clinic have been invited to be guests of the Athletic Department for the January 16 doubleheader games as the Men take on rival Ohio in the "Battle of the Bricks" at noon and the Women battle with the Zips of Akron at 4 p.m. Both the Miami Athletic Department and the Preble County YMCA are excited about the potential growth of the partnership.

Learn more about Miami's initiatives at www.muredhawks.com and click Fan Central under the Fan Zone tab.