Black Basketball Stars of the Past, Present and Future

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STORY BY TASHAWN MCKINNEY & GABBY STEWART.  PHOTO BY JALEN GREEN & DESTINY STEWART.

MARCH 20, 2014.  Have you seen a Friendship Chamberlain Girls' Basketball game this year? You can see the Chamberlain Girls Basketball team play at different schools such as IDEA, Paul, Collegiate, Woodridge, and many other schools in the DC area. This year’s team line up is Gabrielle Stewart, Tashawn McKinney, Victoria Farrar, Angel Jordan, Samiyah Hatcher, Kaliah Ralley, Germani Melvin, and J’mia Pendleton. The team is coached by Coach Samuels, Coach Earil.

The Friendship Chamberlain Basketball team plays basketball because it’s a fun sport to help us gain confidence in ourselves. for those of us who want to go to the WNBA. And it’s good exercise. WNBA is Women's National Basketball League . Our coach Mrs. Samuels says she coaches us because she loves the game of basketball.

She says, “ I love working with children who want to learn and have a good time learning. Coaching these ladies is the best of both worlds in my book. They work hard, and I feel that I can make a difference in their lives on the court and off. Basketball has taken me many places and if I can help another person to gain that same experience or better, then I feel that I have fulfilled a goal for myself and a child. “

Mrs. Samuels says “Basketball at Chamberlain is for the students to be exposed to everything that they can be exposed to. We want the students to know that their education can be paid for because of sports. We want them to take advantage of all of their opportunities. We want them to know that they can do whatever their dreams are and it’s possible to accomplish as long as you work hard and consistently to accomplish your goal. Basketball also gives students something to do besides sitting at home playing video games. They need to get out and do something productive. The athletic scholars at Friendship Chamberlain are focused on academics and athletics, they know both can take you somewhere".

Recently, Gabby had the opportunity to meet a Basketball Star Lisa Leslie. Lisa Leslie visited Chamberlain on January 29, 2014 to speak about education at the Kids First Program. She played in the WNBA and won 3 WNBA MVP Awards. Additional Awards include 4 Gold Olympic Medals. Gabby was very excited and happy to meet one of her B-ball Heroes. Bball stars like our coach Ms. Samuels and Lisa Leslie are good examples of what could happen to you when you balance athletics and academics.

Tashawn McKinney and Destiny Stewart are 6th graders at Friendship Chamberlain and Gabby Stewart is an 8th grader at Friendship Chamberlain Academy.