October 14, 2007

UCSC Women's Basketball Spend Their Team Retreat Volunteering

Every season the Women's Basketball Team spends a weekend out of Santa Cruz for their team retreat. This year the team decided to add a little twist to their team building weekend as they headed to Reedley, CA to volunteer at The Academy of the Sierras. AOS is a residential treatment school for overweight teens and young adults. Students reside on campus and change their lifestyle, while continuing their middle school, high school, or college education.

Thoughout the weekend, the Slugs dived right into the lives of these young kids, participating in the 3 mile morning walk/jog, their own daily activities, a very fun filled evening of a variey of talents at the talent show, and of course, a morning filled of basketball games. Along with all the activities, the Slugs also took on the daily life style of the kids at AOS. They were housed in the dorms inter mixed with the students, were on their daily schedule, as well as ate at the onsite cafeteria that was filled with tools to help these kids develope a healthy and nutritious lifestyle.

Overall, the weekend was a huge success. The kids at AOS were excited to have a team visit their campus. At first, they didn't understand why a fit group of athletes had any interest in them. But once they all began sharing their stories and understanding one another, that although their battles may be different, fit or not, everyone is always battling something. And if you have a support group, whether it is other students, fellow teammates, friends and family, if you have a common goal, you can achieve anything