Current women's basketball student-athlete Lauren Morris decided to spend her summer break working on more than just her jump-shot. Throughout these past few months, she has joined efforts with the organization, “F3B”, performing charity work throughout the world. F3B aims at empowering women through the sport of basketball, specifically by “increasing communication, cooperation, cultural awareness and basketball skills for participating American and African teenage girls.” The details of the program are as follows: “each program is approximately 60 hours in duration, with 40 hours of basketball instruction and 20 hours of professional development focused on leadership skills, cultural communication and HIV/AIDS awareness and wireless technology.”
F3B selects urban or "at risk" female high school basketball players and grants them the opportunity of traveling across the world and teaching their peers the game of basketball by conducting camps. A head coach and two current college players, who serve as assistants, also travel with the group of high school girls. Saint Peter's very own Lauren Morris had the privilege of assuming one of the roles of assistant coach this summer.
This year, the camp took place in Samakov, Bulgaria, where Lauren and her group instructed 20 high school aged girls, and also visited the United States Embassy. Here, they had the opportunity to not only meet, but also speak with the United States Ambassador. The group then traveled to Bucharest and Timosoara, Romania and visited an orphanage in each city where they played with and taught the children various basketball skills. They also donated basketball hoops, toys and clothing to both institutions.
F3B has sponsors ranging from Alcatel-Lucent, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Toyota, and many more. Those interested in finding out more about the organization should visit the official website at www.f3bscholars.org.
Lauren Morris's Personal Statement regarding her involvement with the F3B Organization:
“I feel deeply honored to be able to be apart of something that gives back to not only young ladies from within my community, but to also young ladies throughout the global community. F3B is an organization I feel a close connection to due to experiences I've personally shared. In 2006 as a high school counselor, I had the privilege of traveling with the group to Africa. Basketball is something I've enjoyed since a very young age and I have also been fortunate enough to have several wonderful, knowledgeable coaches throughout my career. For me, being able to share my knowledge of the game and better someone else's performance is an extremely humbling feeling.
This summer's travels through Europe proved to be another successful experience. In the camps we held in Bulgaria, most of the girls already possessed skills; particularly the abilities to pass, dribble and shoot. Ultimately, our task was to determine what techniques they could improve on, and provide them with drills that allow them to build their respective skill sets. It was extremely rewarding to watch the players grow as young ladies throughout the course of the week.
I am very happy to have been able to have this experience as I'm entering adulthood and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this wonderful organization. Hopefully this won't be my last trip with the group.”
The Saint Peter's College Athletic Department acknowledges and commends student-athlete Lauren Morris for her commitment to the Jesuit tradition.
