StevenHW
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From:
http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1132390324101970.xml&coll=1
BASKETBALL STAR INSPIRES STUDENTS
Saturday, November 19, 2005
By BEA O'QUINN DEWBERRY
bdewberry@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The message of hoop heroine Kara Wolters was not lost on 7-year-old Lamaya Smith-Reid.
"You shouldn't let anyone put you down, and even if they do, you don't have to listen," the Lincoln Elementary School second-grader said after hearing Wolters on Wednesday at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
"She proved you can do anything if you put your mind to it," Lamaya said.
Wolters, a University of Connecticut women's basketball champion, a star of the Women's National Basketball Association and a Gold Medal Olympian, offered words of inspiration to more than 250 students from Springfield, Holyoke and Griswold, Conn., as part of the MVPs of Character program at the hall.
The series is sponsored by The Republican's Newspaper in Education program in collaboration with abc40 and the Hall of Fame.
Wolters, who was 6 feet, 3 inches tall in the eighth grade, said she was often called cruel nicknames like Jolly Green Giant.
"I hated my height. I hated being different. I stuck out and at the time I didn't like sticking out," said Wolters, now 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Wolters said she turned to basketball and set a goal to play in college. "I told everyone that's my dream, but I had so many doubters say, 'No way,'" she said.
Wolters, who made her mark as a star player at the University of Connecticut where she earned her degree in communications, said people didn't believe she had the athletic prowess to be a college-level player.
She proved them wrong, going on to win the national title, playing for the WNBA, and in 2000, winning an Olympic gold medal. Wolters has earned such accolades as the AP Player of the Year and the Big East Conference Player of the Year and has toured more than 20 countries.
She told the youngsters to believe in themselves and stay focused despite the naysayers, whom she described as "the Eeyores" referencing a character in the "Winnie the Pooh" books known for his negative and indecisive ways.
"I like to surround myself with the Tiggers," Wolters said, referring to another Pooh character who is upbeat and focused.
"She's a really positive person and I like that," Emily Desmarais, a fifth-grader at Maurice Donahue Elementary School in Holyoke, said.
Classmates Nelson Estrada, 10, and Nicholas Joaquim, 11, said Wolters was interesting and "really cool."
Nicholas said he liked that Wolters maintained her grades by making the deans list while in college.
"I hope now she keeps going and doing things to make her way to (earn placement in) the Basketball Hall of Fame," Nicholas said.
Although Wolters, 30, has retired from playing professional basketball, she is a sports commentator for the University of Connecticut and coaches and runs the Dream Big Basketball Clinics.
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http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1132390324101970.xml&coll=1
BASKETBALL STAR INSPIRES STUDENTS
Saturday, November 19, 2005
By BEA O'QUINN DEWBERRY
bdewberry@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The message of hoop heroine Kara Wolters was not lost on 7-year-old Lamaya Smith-Reid.
"You shouldn't let anyone put you down, and even if they do, you don't have to listen," the Lincoln Elementary School second-grader said after hearing Wolters on Wednesday at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
"She proved you can do anything if you put your mind to it," Lamaya said.
Wolters, a University of Connecticut women's basketball champion, a star of the Women's National Basketball Association and a Gold Medal Olympian, offered words of inspiration to more than 250 students from Springfield, Holyoke and Griswold, Conn., as part of the MVPs of Character program at the hall.
The series is sponsored by The Republican's Newspaper in Education program in collaboration with abc40 and the Hall of Fame.
Wolters, who was 6 feet, 3 inches tall in the eighth grade, said she was often called cruel nicknames like Jolly Green Giant.
"I hated my height. I hated being different. I stuck out and at the time I didn't like sticking out," said Wolters, now 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Wolters said she turned to basketball and set a goal to play in college. "I told everyone that's my dream, but I had so many doubters say, 'No way,'" she said.
Wolters, who made her mark as a star player at the University of Connecticut where she earned her degree in communications, said people didn't believe she had the athletic prowess to be a college-level player.
She proved them wrong, going on to win the national title, playing for the WNBA, and in 2000, winning an Olympic gold medal. Wolters has earned such accolades as the AP Player of the Year and the Big East Conference Player of the Year and has toured more than 20 countries.
She told the youngsters to believe in themselves and stay focused despite the naysayers, whom she described as "the Eeyores" referencing a character in the "Winnie the Pooh" books known for his negative and indecisive ways.
"I like to surround myself with the Tiggers," Wolters said, referring to another Pooh character who is upbeat and focused.
"She's a really positive person and I like that," Emily Desmarais, a fifth-grader at Maurice Donahue Elementary School in Holyoke, said.
Classmates Nelson Estrada, 10, and Nicholas Joaquim, 11, said Wolters was interesting and "really cool."
Nicholas said he liked that Wolters maintained her grades by making the deans list while in college.
"I hope now she keeps going and doing things to make her way to (earn placement in) the Basketball Hall of Fame," Nicholas said.
Although Wolters, 30, has retired from playing professional basketball, she is a sports commentator for the University of Connecticut and coaches and runs the Dream Big Basketball Clinics.
* * * * * * * *
