The Paint Branch Varsity Girls’ Basketball Team hosted a clinic with twenty student-athletes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on January 16th. This community-service event taught the girls that basketball is not all about winning, but also staying positive and encouraging teamwork.

    Varsity girls’ basketball coach Rochelle Coleman felt that the clinic was the perfect time to expose her players to different people through the game of basketball. Coach Coleman brought this group of players to Paint Branch via her friend Michael Vaughan Cherubin, who is the owner/founder of Global Game Changers, a sports program that creates sport opportunities for children around the world. Global Game Changers is a sports consultation firm in the United States that encourages healthy lifestyle and life skills for youth. From January 9 through January 20, the Congolese delegation met and played with Washington, D.C. area high school and university teams, participated in a clinic by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Verizon Center, and completed team-building and leadership exercises.

    On that late Monday morning, four basketball coaches, two French translators, ten boy-and-girl basketball players from the Congo, and fourteen players from the PB Varsity Girls’ Basketball Team packed the gym. The day started off with a meet-and-greet between the varsity girls and the Congolese players. Junior post player Erin French enjoyed getting to know the players. "It was really fun; I hope we have many other opportunities such as this one in the future." After everyone got acquainted with each other, all the players met up by the baseline to do fundamental basketball drills such as three-man weave and rainbow. The next activities required the players to be split into five groups where they had to work as a team to win the game. These games were so fun and competitive that even the people on the sidelines looked like they wanted to play.

    At the end of the day, the varsity girls’ basketball team presented the Congolese players with a variety of sweets like cookies, snicker doodles and cupcakes to say thank you for coming. Sadly, after everyone finished eating, the Congolese players and their coaches had to leave. The Paint Branch Girls’ Basketball Team will never forget the day they had practice with the Global Game Changers.