Young girls want to be the next Steph Curry just as much as young boys do. So, realizing the power of his platform, Curry and the Golden State Warriors hosted an all-girls basketball camp on Monday and Tuesday at The Ultimate Fieldhouse in Walnut Creek, Calif.
As a father of two daughters himself, Curry approached Warriors’ camp director Jeff Addiego to inquire about putting on a fun and instructive camp for 200 girls in the area. They dubbed it the “It’s Our Game Basketball Camp.”
Girls like 12-year-old Amanda Kerner, who drilled 20 shots in two-and-a-half minutes including a buzzer-beater, had Curry’s and the Warriors’ support all the way through.
“It was the best thing in my life that ever happened,” Kerner told the Associated Press about her timely performance “He [Curry] was jumping around afterward. He seemed really excited. He slammed the ball on the floor. He’s the best shooter in the world and I want to be like him, so to see him supporting girls, it’s really cool.”
Curry ran the girls through some of his warm-up drills to improve their dribbling and shooting skills. He coached them up and, of course, took pictures with campers and signed autographs.
“Anytime you have a guy of Steph’s notoriety, his caliber of play, everything that he has going, to take the time to do this and do it for all girls, it just speaks volumes,” Olympic gold medalist and former WNBA star Jennifer Azzi told the Associated Press. “In my experience with the guys around the NBA, they’re very supportive of women, but for him to go the extra mile and do this, I think it means the world to young girls to see that caliber of NBA male is taking an interest in them. I think it’s really exciting, and really it’s not about gender. It’s about your passion for the game.”
The camp comes on the heels of the”Stephen Curry Select Camp,” where two of the country’s most talented high school girls basketball players competed with the boys.
As for Amanda Kerner’s impressive shooting performance? The next day, Curry surprised her with a new pair of signed shoes.
Look out, Steph Curry. There are a bunch of young basketball players — boys and girls — on your heels.
