Fundamental fun with Morgan, Krista and Matt

By Judy Richter

Getting the ball through the hoop is the ultimate goal of the game of basketball, but getting it there requires a variety of skills and techniques.

Stanford is helping youngsters learn the fundamentals in clinics led by Morgan Clyburn, ’09, and friends. Open to girls in grades 3 through 8 and boys in grades 3 through 6, the clinics take place in the Arrillaga Practice Gym 90 minutes before the start of some women’s basketball games.

Morgan was unavailable for the second of five clinics on Nov. 29, but a former teammate, guard Krista Rappahahn, ’07, and former practice player, Matt McEvoy, ’09, led the 27 girls and three boys through their paces, starting with a jog around the playing floor, followed by stretches and an air-sea-land game to test reaction time.

Krista had the kids dribble the ball, then toss it high and clap while it’s in the air. Matt led another dribbling drill, this one through the legs. Passing was next on the agenda.

After a water break, the kids got some shooting tips. “The first thing is balance,” Krista said. To shoot a 3-pointer, “Use your legs to get the ball up there.” Keep the elbow under the ball and lined up with the knee. Leave a window between the ball and the hand and keep the non-shooting hand straight. The kids then practiced shooting while the coaches circulated among them to offer individual help.

A dribble-pass relay requiring individuals from each of two teams to run around three cones got the kids’ competitive juices flowing with lots of cheering.

Attending a clinic like this and going to a WBB game gives the kids “a goal you can aspire to,” said Cindy Leonard, a coach with the Cupertino Hoops League. She was there with a friend’s daughter along with about half of their team of 4th through 6th graders. She also said she appreciates the individual attention the kids get and watches for enjoyable drills to incorporate into her team’s routine.

The clinics are organized by Sarah Boruta, video coordinator and marketing liaison for Stanford WBB. Coach Tara VanDerveer, who conducts summer basketball camps, got the idea because she saw the new practice gym as a good place to “reach out to local youth by holding pre-game clinics,” Sarah said in an e-mail. She asked Sarah to “promote the clinics, maintain a data base of registrants and recruit coaches to work,” Sarah said.

Morgan and Matt, who both have coached at the summer camps, developed the format with Tara’s input and approval.

Although Morgan wasn’t at the clinic, she answered some e-mail questions about what she has been doing since graduation. She’s a development engineer at Autonomic Technologies, a start-up in Redwood City. Her duties include working on the design and prototype of the medical device company’s first product, “an implantable neurostimulator to treat headaches,” its web site says. “As with any start-up, “there’s a lot of versatility in position,” Morgan said.

Morgan, a center/forward, did not play during her senior year because of extensive surgery on both feet. “I got to see basketball in a different perspective – from the sidelines,” she said in her e-mail. “It made me really appreciate the coaching aspect of the game. I love kids, and this has been a wonderful opportunity to combine both.

“Ultimately, I’d like to coach at the high school level, but I don’t have the time to commit to a team five days a week,” she said. In the meantime, “I really love my job. I’m hoping to be working in the industry for a long time to come.”

Sarah’s title as marketing liaison marks an expansion of her duties from last year, when she became the video coordinator. Those duties are the same, primarily filming practices and arranging video exchanges with other schools. She also asked fans to record post-season games last year – something she said was helpful and much appreciated.

“As technology advances, I am able to do more to provide for the video needs of our team,” she said. A file encoder that shrinks file size has allowed her to put game files from the past three seasons and this season “on a portable hard drive to take on the road with us. This allows the coaching staff to watch games from the past three years whenever,” she said.

She became involved in marketing because she has an undergraduate degree in graphic design and helped to design promotional materials last year. “Tara asked me to take a bigger role in this because of my creative background,” she said.

Her two primary duties are to create the design elements and graphics for the theme (Game: On) that brands the team this season and to “increase attendance by building awareness of Stanford WBB throughout the community.” She did the design work during the summer, but the other duties are ongoing:

• Work with the marketing department to generate promotion ideas and aid in promotion.
  
• Work with student managers to increase student awareness of WBB.
  
• Set up game day events for groups.
  
• Work with area elementary and middle schools to set up player visits and campus visits.
  
• Set up community service events and public appearances for the team.

Krista, who spoke to the Fast Break Club last season, is a second-year medical student at Stanford. Matt is an intern for Catholic Community at Stanford. He’s in charge of undergraduate programs such as retreats, dinners and Bible study. His undergraduate major was human biology, so – like Krista – he wants to become a doctor.

The clinics continue at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 16, 11:30 a.m. Feb. 7 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20. The cost is $10 per child. To register, e-mail Sarah Boruta at sboruta@stanford.edu.