Sonics & Storm Re-launch NeighborHoops Initiative
Published on March 22, 2007 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Seattle Storm News Release
SEATTLE, Thursday, March 22, 2007 - The Seattle Sonics & Storm today announced the re-launch of the successful community relations initiative, NeighborHoops. NeighborHoops was created to strengthen relationships between the Sonics & Storm organization and Seattle's basketball community.
To enhance the NeighborHoops program, the Sonics & Storm hired Sonics legend Slick Watts, who will serve as community ambassador for the remainder of the 2006-07 Sonics season and the upcoming Storm season. Center Ashley Robinson returned to Seattle this WNBA off-season, and is participating in a number of NeighborHoops events as part of this year's "Stormin' the Sound" campaign.
Watts has remained an active member of the Sonics & Storm organization and the Seattle community since his playing career ended in 1978. He regularly assists in basketball outreach programs and participates in charitable causes, including a relief mission to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"Stormin' the Sound" is an annual community initiative that brings former and current Storm players back to the Seattle community during the WNBA's off-season. Robinson's campaign tipped off on Feb. 21 at the Garfield Community Center, where she joined Sonics All-Star Ray Allen for a special Black History Month Read To Achieve event.
"As a professional men's and women's basketball organization, we want to be leading ambassadors for the game," said Sonics & Storm Foundation President Karen Bryant. "Our increased commitment to NeighborHoops will help us lend expertise and resources to the Puget Sound basketball community. We're proud of what we've accomplished with our NeighborHoops court refurbishments, but taking it to the next level has been our goal for a long time. We're pleased to continue the rich tradition of basketball in the Northwest, and this program gives us the platform to celebrate that."
The Sonics also designed a new logo for the NeighborHoops program, which features the green & gold of both the Sonics and Storm teams. The backboard on the new logo symbolizes that of a playground basketball hoop with the rounded top.
From the development of a database of college, high school and youth league coaches and administrators, to strategic partnerships and key events, the mission of NeighborHoops is to provide expertise and position the Sonics & Storm organization as a leader in Seattle's basketball community. Over the past several years, NeighborHoops, in conjunction with the Sonics & Storm Foundation has refurbished dilapidated basketball courts throughout the state of Washington. Of the 25 current refurbished courts, 12 were updated in late 2006 during the Sonics' 40th Anniversary Legends Tour.
In July 2006, the Sonics & Storm hired Billy Rodgers as the organization's basketball outreach manager. Rodgers, the current boy's basketball coach at Ballard High School, brings with him a wealth of knowledge and Seattle basketball experience. Through NeighborHoops, he coordinates youth skills clinics and camps featuring Sonics and Storm players, develops coaches clinics and training programs with Sonics head coach Bob Hill and Storm head coach Anne Donovan, and oversees the court refurbishment projects.
The organization's two websites, supersonics.com and storm.wnba.com, also plays an important role in the continued success of NeighborHoops. Coaches and fans are able to stay up-to-date on local basketball events including NeighborHoops youth camps and clinics and receive basketball tips from members of the Sonics and Storm coaching staffs.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from March 22, 2007
- Storm and FSN Announce 2007 Television Broadcast Schedule - Seattle Storm
- Mystics to hold tryouts for Mystics Mayhem - Washington Mystics
- Washington Mystics to host 2007 WNBA Draft party - Washington Mystics
- Sonics & Storm Re-launch NeighborHoops Initiative - Seattle Storm
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