Court Date: Queens Knights Hold Clinic for SFY's Basketball Buddies

The Lady Knights of Queens College will take to the court of this Thursday evening, imparting their basketball know-how on the budding athletes in the program. 

The Knights will be holding a two-hour clinic to help improve the ball skills of their young charges, children who live with autism or other disabilities. For the members of Basketball Buddies, the clinic is a huge opportunity to interact with their idols. 

"The kids get really excited about these visitors," said Shira Segev, SFY program director of community based services for children with disabilities. "They kind of see them as mentors, people that they aspire to be like."

Basketball Buddies is a 10 session program, taught by a medley of physical education instructors, social workers and SFY staff. Every child is paired with a high school-aged mentor, and together they work to master a different skill each week, be it shooting or ball control. 

Though Basketball Buddies emphasizes individualized attention, Segev said it's inspiring for the Basketball Buddies to watch a practiced team take over the court, putting to use the skills they themselves spent the semester learning.  

"It's an exciting thing for them to look forward to, seeing all the skills they're learning in action an with older, experienced team," she said.  

The clinic will be held at Samuel Field Y, located at 58-20 Little Neck Pkwy, on Thursday from 6 - 8 p.m. Visit SFY.org for more information.