St. Francis (New York) assistant women’s basketball coach Sue Wicks spent much of her summer conducting basketball clinics across the Philippines as part of a partnership between the U.S. State Department and the NBA and WNBA.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs annually teams with the NBA and WNBA in the Sports Envoys program, sending coaches and former players overseas to teach drills and interact with kids and coaches. Wicks was a WNBA all-star with the New York Liberty and played professionally on several international teams.

Wicks was impressed by the passion for basketball and knowledge of the game she found while in the Philippines.

“I had a fabulous time bringing people together through sports while encouraging the development of basketball,” Wicks wrote for the State Department. “One of the best memories I will take with me is working with the amazing girl basketball players and seeing them shock the Miami Heat coaching staff by winning five consecutive shooting games against their male counterparts.”

In addition to the clinics and school visits, Wicks and other NBA and WNBA personalities, including Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (a Filipino-American), spoke to Filipino kids about the importance of education, a healthy lifestyle and diversity. In a blog for St. Francis.

“We met with the wealthiest and the poorest people in the country during our trip,” Wicks wrote. “We were offered everything from lavish dinners and the use of private jets to simple shell necklaces, all presented with the open-hearted generosity that seemed to be the unifying quality of all Philippine people. We were overwhelmed by the warmth and hospitality of these amazingly resourceful people.”

Wicks joined the St. Francis coaching staff in 2006.