Photo Gallery (images by Shampayne Clay)
Hilo, HI -- Even during a busy trip through around the Hawaiian Islands, the Academy of Art University softball team was still able to give back to the surrounding community by hosting a youth softball clinic with the Keaukaha Sports Association. One day prior to their matchup against Hawaii-Hilo, the Urban Knights enjoyed an opportunity to pass along what they had learned on the field and absorb the Hawaiian spirit.
“It was exciting to be able to go to Hilo and hold a clinic,” senior outfielder
Ashley Lokey said. “The girls were all stoked to be there and we were eager to teach them something new. Seeing the girls succeed in the little things was exciting for us. Something I also noticed from putting on the clinic was how much young girls look up to us. We are their dream and it was neat to realize that once it was my dream to play college ball too. And we hopefully helped make that dream even stronger. I loved every second of it.”
The clinic featured approximately one participant to each ART U athlete with all young ladies coming from Keaukaha 10U Girls Softball coached by Coach Bobby. It was a general tutorial in which Academy of Art covered the basic fundamentals of infield, outfield, throwing, and running the bases. Aunty Tene, who handles many of the responsibilities of the Keaukaha Sports Association which enables many of the families in Keaukaha to have their children play organized sports free of cost, played a major role in coordinating the event.
“For the clinic, we had a really good time teaching the young girls new skills,” head coach Rachel Sherman said. “The team really enjoyed getting to know them and learning about Hawaiian culture from them.”
After working hard on the field, the Knights and their younger counterparts joined for a dinner composed of local Hawaiian food. The tables turned as the youngsters shared their own dance tips, giving ART U Softball a greater understanding of the 'Aloha Spirit' through this island-style gathering.
“The experience was so amazing!” sophomore infielder
Lauren Stover said. “It was so nice to be welcomed into the families from Hilo and get a chance to help make a difference in their community and the lives of the little girls. Every day we live the dream not many get a chance to live. We were blessed with the opportunity to be student-athletes and it's a great feeling to be able to help these girls realize the dream of playing college ball is within their reach!”
One day after the event, the Urban Knights would go on to sweep Hawaii-Hilo, the Pacific West Conference's standings leader at the time, and Academy of Art's newfound friends came out to support.
“Being a college softball athlete should be about giving back to the sport that helped you get so far in life, so putting on a clinic no matter where we are is a great way to pass on the love for the sport,” Coach Sherman said. “I knew we made an impact when multiple girls showed up at our games the next day and wanted to be bat girls.”
