Basketball players visit with elementary school students

GOSHEN, Ind. (AP) - The Goshen High School boys basketball teams made an off-court assist Monday by spending some time with young students at two elementary schools.

Members of the junior varsity and varsity RedHawks teams spent part of the afternoon at Chandler and West Side elementary schools in Goshen to read stories, play games and, of course, shoot some hoops with the future RedHawks.

According to Goshen boys head coach Michael Wohlford, a lull in the team's schedule as the regular season winds down created some time to get out of the gym and into the community for some off-court work.

"It's a week where we have only one game, we're late in the season and practice isn't always a necessity at this time of the year, so it's a good to take some time and refresh the mind and the body," Wohlford said.

West Side principal Lori Line, whose son Will is a starting varsity RedHawk player, said the coaching staff contacted her looking for a way to get involved. They set up the visit to be a time for students working after school on their IREAD test to get to have fun after test prepping.

"Kids look up to them, they see them playing at the games and so actually getting to sit with them and the basketball team gets to learn how to collaborate with younger students," Line said. "The kids can see them as students rather than just the basketball players that they are."

Wohlford said that the afternoon was a good experience for his athletes to give back to their community and spend time with younger students.

"Fun and work, work and play with the kids - but what a great experience for the high school kids to step out and work with kids in the community," he said.

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Source: The Elkhart Truth, http://bit.ly/2lTgtpY

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com