Adia Barnes didn’t want the microphone. Instead, she moved into the stands at McKale Center closer to her audience.
The UA women’s basketball coach was in her element. Next to being on the court, she is most comfortable talking to a group of young women.
For the next 30 minutes she asked questions and shared stories. And mixed in some lessons she hopes will last.
Saturday was Barnes’ Girl Power Day 2019 with the Boys & Girls Club of Tucson. Nearly 80 young women ages 10-17 participated in the event.
“They were so excited to see the players and interact with Adia — that’s a huge experience. You never know who you are going to spark or what’s going to spark them,” said Debbie Wagner, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson.
The beginning of that spark showed on the court at the end of the day, when the young women were running up to the Wildcats asking them to sign their Girl Power Day T-shirts. One asked Sam Thomas to sign her jeans, another asked Shaina Pellington to sign her shoes.
And Juliana, age 13, was asked by Barnes to be a ball girl. She said yes right away. “I was so excited my heart was beating fast.”
Barnes said it was an “incredible day.”
“I think it was even better than I thought it would be,” Barnes said. “Even when I saw the young women from the moment they got here to when they left. They left more sure of themselves, they talked with a louder voice, maybe held their shoulders back a little more.
“I noticed that in a few kids and that was important, that was special. ... That’s more than I could ask for. That makes me happy,” she said.
Barnes definitely connected with them — not just as a coach, but as a girl, who had gone through — or is still going through — some of the same things they are.
She used to hate her frizzy and curly hair at their age, but now she loves it. She was an inchworm at their age “I was chubby, then skinny, then chubby.”
And she shared that she still gets nervous speaking in front of large groups of people. How does she overcome the nerves? With her Superhero stance. She asked everyone to stand up.
“Put your feet a little wider than shoulder width. Shoulders back. Chest up. Hands on hips. Look at the person next to you. Does she look like a boss? Do I look confident? Do this in the mirror every day. It gives you self-confidence when you walk out,” she said.
The afternoon started with lunch and moved on to 45-minute educational sessions that included financial literacy; art; making electricity with potatoes and lemons; team building and shooting layups. Mayoral candidate Regina Romero also stopped by to share her story and efforts to become to the first Latina mayor of Tucson and only the second Mexican-American mayor. And the Walden Grove Dance Club, who was on “America’s Got Talent” performed.
The Wildcats already had a jump start on inspiring many of these young women last spring during their WNIT Championship run.
“I think the last three or four games of the WNIT Tournament a good chunk of our girls were here,” said Brittany Kagele, president of the Board of Directors of Boys & Girls Club of Tucson. “So it was not only good to see that they got invested in women’s basketball, but you saw the twinkles in their eyes that ‘I could be on that court someday,’ and so we were really so fortunate and so blessed to have some of our kids be part of that really amazing experience.”
A few of the kids said they came because of the basketball, but they ended up learning much more.
Leslie, 11, learned to never give up and believe in yourself. And her friend, Breanda, also 11, said that “Failing doesn’t always mean you lose. From failing you learn from your mistakes and you are going to keep trying and trying and not give up until you get to your goal.”
Barnes hopes that these aren’t the only girls who learned something Saturday. She had a message for her team, as well.
“They always say you bring someone else along and once you’ve made it you do that for someone else. I want them to learn the value of serving and bringing someone else along. It could be a word they say to a young woman that she’ll keep forever. It could be a compliment or a pat on the back. But those things kids remember, and I want to teach them to impact youth and to give back and serve. That’s what this program is all about,” said Barnes.
While it was Barnes’ first time hosting this day, it has extra meaning. It all started with Joan Bonvicini, who held these days when she coached at Arizona.
‘It’s very special,” Barnes said. “Coach B came to me and said this is something she wanted me to do. I was immediately drawn to it like ‘Wow this would be a great opportunity.’ You know, Coach B is so good at doing all that stuff in the community, empowering young women and that’s something I really value and I want to do. It’s meaningful to me. ... It was a no-brainer.
“That’s something I plan on doing for the rest of my career here.”
Rim shots
• The Wildcats scrimmaged in a closed session with Grand Canyon on Sunday and won 66-37. It was the first time Arizona has scrimmaged with another team during training.
• For UA walk-on-turned-scholarship player, Lindsey Malecha, was accepted into the UA medical school last week.
