GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (NCN) – High school coaches in Grand Island are encouraging the next generation of athletes.

For the second year in a row, Grand Island Senior High’s girls basketball team offered 14 free basketball clinics across all of the district’s elementary schools.

Head Coach Kathryn Langrehr hopes the camps get girls excited about the game.

“Just exposing them to the game, trying to find something purposeful in their life and trying to get them interested in the game of basketball,” said Langrehr.

Iliana and Joanna attended the clinics and both like the sport.

“It’s fun and I just like running a lot, so it’s a lot of energy to take up,” said Iliana. “That I get to have fun and learn new stuff,“ said Joanna. For them, it’s more than just a game. It’s something they hope to take seriously. “It’s about getting it into the net, so whenever you’re going to shoot look at three strings, look at the middle and try to score for that one or in the back look for the three nets,” said Iliana. Skills like these are learned at the clinics. Langrehr says around 13 girls have attended each clinic. Some of them hadn’t even touched a basketball before and now they’re able to dribble, shoot and demonstrate other skills. The coach says it’s her way of sharing her love for the game. “Sports you know, they are a huge part of kind of, where you know learn a lot of what life has to offer through hard work and effort and so if we get can introduce that early age and kinda get kids off of cell phones and interested into something that’s purposeful, and able to serve their community,” said Langrehr. “That’s the goal.”

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