NEW YORK, NY – June 2, 2015 – The New York Liberty will kick off a new season of WNBA Basketball with the Summer Tip Off, presented by Chase, a community initiative that will serve over a thousand youth throughout all five New York City boroughs and New Jersey as a part of WNBA Cares Week. On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., Liberty players, coaches, and alumni will attend eleven free basketball clinics featuring 50-100 coed youth per location.
Summer Tip Off, presented by Chase, is being conducted in collaboration with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. The Liberty will select one participant from each Summer Tip Off location as the MVP of the Clinic and honor them on court at a future Liberty game. All clinic participants and staff will receive tickets to attend the Liberty home opener on Friday, June 5 against the Atlanta Dream.
The Summer Tip Off will provide several Liberty players a chance to directly impact their hometown communities. Center Tina Charles, a Queens, N.Y. native will appear at Bayswater Park, and guard Essence Carson will be at Eastside High School, which she attended in Paterson, N.J. Guard Tanisha Wright was born in Brooklyn, and along with Liberty legend Teresa Weatherspoon, will hold a clinic at Vincent Abate Playground at McCarren Park.
Additionally, the Liberty will visit Queens City Academy Charter School in Plainfield, N.J., where during NBA Cares Week last fall the New York Knicks and Chase completed a court and KaBOOM Playground build as part of the Basketball in the Boroughs and Beyond. Chase’s support of Summer Tip Off is an extension of Basketball in the Boroughs and Beyond program, a community initiative in partnership with the Knicks that serves thousands of youth within the Tri-State area annually.
Below is a schedule of events for Summer Tip Off, presented by Chase:
- St. Mary’s East Playground – Bronx
- Brittany Boyd, Liberty guard
- Katie Smith, Liberty assistant coach
- West Bronx Recreation Center – Bronx
- Carolyn Swords, Liberty center
- Kym Hampton, Liberty legend
- Vincent Abate Playground at McCarren Park – Brooklyn
- Kiah Stokes, Liberty center
- Teresa Weatherspoon, Liberty legend
- St. John’s Recreation Center – Brooklyn
- Tanisha Wright, Liberty guard
- Martin Luther King Playground – Manhattan
- Swin Cash, Liberty forward
- Bill Laimbeer, Liberty head coach
- Alfred E. Smith Recreation Center – Manhattan
- Candice Wiggins, Liberty guard
- Herb Williams, Liberty assistant coach
- Hoffman Park – Queens
- Rebecca Allen, Liberty forward
- Bayswater Park – Queens
- Tina Charles, Liberty center
- Mahoney Park – Staten Island
- Avery Warley, Liberty center
- Sue Wicks, Liberty legend
- Eastside High School – Paterson, New Jersey
- Essence Carson, Liberty guard
- Queens City Academy Charter School – Plainfield, New Jersey
- Sugar Rodgers, Liberty guard
NYC Park’s Community Parks Initiative brings more resources to historically underserved parks and neighborhoods across New York City. Starting with an influx of $130 million capital dollars and also bring enhanced programming, maintenance, and community partnership building to community parks serving high-need communities. The initiative will engage New Yorkers in rebuilding local parks, create new reasons to get out and get fit, and reconnect communities to the green spaces right outside their doorsteps.
Last season, the Liberty impacted several thousand youth basketball players participating in camps, clinics and league events and grassroots programs. Summer Tip Off, presented by Chase, adds to the Liberty’s expanding list of community initiatives that focus on growing basketball throughout the tri-state with an emphasis on serving at-risk communities.