The NCAA News - News & Features

YES program makes big splash in Big Apple

Six YES clinics were held at different sites in the New York metropolitan area March 31 in conjunction with the Final Four. More than 100 collegiate coaches were on hand to give tips to more than 2,600 youths who participated in the clinics.

In addition, 215 collegiate student-athletes served as youth mentors, and more than 200 other volunteers chipped in to help administer the clinics. Even the mascots from the four national semifinalists made clinic appearances.

"People have been overwhelmed and overjoyed," Meadowlands Organizing Committee chair Joe Quinlan said of the local reaction to the clinics. "People were ecstatic not only about the general clinic format but about the fact that there were so many major college coaches there who contributed their time and energy to make the project run smoothly."

It was the first time more than one YES clinic had been conducted at a championship site. The idea to stage six came from the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee, which saw the championship venue at New Jersey's Meadowlands Arena as a unique opportunity to reach out to several thousand youths at one time.

The committee received administrative and financial support from National Youth Sports Program officials, who were familiar with holding youth clinics in the area; the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which provided coaches for clinic instruction; and the NCAA's corporate partners, who increased their commitment to providing printed materials and promotional items at the additional clinics.

"This was a complicated project," Quinlan said. "The basketball committee, the youth programs staff and the many volunteers at each site performed a great job of coordinating the effort -- and each member institution embraced the project with energy and enthusiasm."