Timberwolves, Lynx unveil refurbished court for Southside Village Boys & Girls Club
The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx unveiled a newly-refurbished court at the Southside Village Boys & Girls Club on Monday.
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx on Monday unveiled a newly-refurbished basketball court at the Southside Village Boys & Girls Club.
The event featured a ribbon cutting ceremony with representatives from the Timberwolves and Lynx, including coach Chris Finch, Wolves and Lynx Vice President of Basketball Development John Thomas, Boys & Girls Club Twin Cities President & CEO Terryl Brumm. Southside Village Boys & Girls Club Branch Director Mark Graves, Lynx reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Crystal Dangerfield and former Wolves’ player Christian Laettner.
The Timberwolves and Lynx Basketball Academy, along with Finch, Dangerfield Laettner as well as Quincy Lewis and Felipe Lopez, broke in the new court with kids from the Boys & Girls Club. The Southside Village Boys & Girls Club got a newly-refurbished court as part of the Timberwolves and Lynx "Our Courts, Our Future" program, which is now in its fourth year. In partnership with U.S. Bank, it’s the first indoor court for the project.
"The great thing about basketball is it’s really just you and a ball and a hoop. That’s where it gets started, you can do it all by yourself or you can do it with several friends or you can do it with an entire community. This place gives you a chance to do all of that," Finch said.
Nearly 100 kids per day are likely to use the new court when school is back in session after Labor Day in an effort to use sports as a way to unite communities. It’s the first of two new courts in Minneapolis, with another coming to the Jerry Gamble Boys & Girls Club in north Minneapolis later this summer.
"They see that people have found enough in them to invest in them to give them something like this. That may spark a dream, they see something this nice, they want to see how far they can take it on the court," Dangerfield said.