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Beth Devine is expanding her reach to young girls and looking beyond just the game of basketball.
The April launch of the Philly Girls Got Game clinic was so successful that four more were scheduled for this month — the three remaining ones are taking place July 14, 21 and 28 at Neumann-Goretti, 1736 S. 10th St. Devine also is looking at the bigger picture as she unveiled plans for her Philly Girls in Motion program geared towards encouraging young girls to become active and make healthy choices.
“It might be someone who has never exercised a day in their life,” Devine said. “We want to get kids moving.”
With the help of Councilman-at-Large Jim Kenney and the Department of Recreation, the program will get under way in September at two recreations centers — John M. Perzel Community Center in Mayfair and Dorothy Emanuel Recreation Center in East Mount Airy.
“This particular program is not for the high-end athlete,” Kenney, of 11th and Tasker streets, said. “These are for girls that need to get up and about and away from the TV.”
“It might start with a walk around the block,” Devine added.
Devine and Kenney along with other volunteers involved in the program gathered at The Palm at The Bellevue, 200 S. Broad St., June 28 for a two-hour happy hour event to help raise funds for its programs.
Guests included area college basketball coaches and former 76ers general manager and president, Billy King, who was mixing drinks behind the bar. He and his wife are committed to stay involved in the organization, he said.
“If we start young, get them exercising it’s more preventative,” King said noting being active could ward off diseases such as diabetes later in life.
Through Devine’s network, those willing to donate their time to the organization like King have continued to grow.
“Everyone has something to teach and we’re all for it because we want to be a volunteer-driven organization,” she said.
Earlier this year, Devine launched the pilot program of Philly Girls in Motion at a Catholic school on the Main Line. Teens including 18-year-old Stephanie Smedile, who graduated from Merion Mercy Academy in Merion Station last month, gathered twice a week after school to learn about wellness and a variety of exercises from January through May.
“All the girls that did it loved it,” she said. “It gave me motivation to start doing the things we do together on my own.”
Now Smedile’s friends come to her for advice and she can take what she has learned to Drexel University in the fall where she will be freshman psychology major.
“The simple choices you make everyday can be shifted,” the Wallingford resident said.
Although Devine found success with the program at Merion, she didn’t want to target schools in well-off suburbs and teens like Smedile, who played tennis in the fall at her alma mater.
“As we were delivering it, we thought, ‘this is a great program.’ The girls that were there were all in. They were there everyday [the group met] … This is great. Let’s do it where the opportunities aren’t.”
So now the nonprofit will look to start two programs and expand it citywide eventually with more sites potentially popping up in January with a possible South Philly location.
“When we grow, that will probably be one of the first places we go,” Devine said of South Philly.
Although she is quick to add it is not a weight-loss program, it may result in reduced pounds as a result of being active. “We want to teach kids how to feel and how to move, so it’s not a battle,” she said.
The program, which is geared for ages 9 to 16 and has a $50 per year membership fee, will provide nutritious lessons prior to the day’s activity teaching the girls about the best choices for what to put into their bodies.
The fitness aspect will consist of Philly Girls Run, a running club with a goal of planning and participating in a neighborhood 5K, Philly Girls Tri, a mentorship that will invoke an interest in running and training for small triathlons, Philly Girls Fitness, a weekly class that may include yoga, Zumba, Pilates, kickboxing and boot camp training, as well as the Philly Girls Got Game basketball clinic.
“That is one of the more important things we’ve done in South Philly — ever,” Kenney said of the initial clinic.
The program consisted of women’s basketball coaches and players from the area’s six universities mentoring about 150 local girls. And about 40 are signed up for each of the July clinics thus far with spots still available, Devine said.
Denise Dillon, Drexel’s women’s basketball head coach said, the April clinic not only affected the local girls, but also her and her players.
We’ve run a lot of clinics,” Dillon, who will run the July 21 clinic as well, said. “That was probably the most memorable that I’ve been involved in.”
Another component of Philly Girls in Motion is a once-a-month family session where Christa Smedile, a registered dietician and certified health counselor, who helped Devine with the pilot program at her younger sister’s school, will show the whole family how to cook and shop healthy.
“The hardest thing we’re going to have to overcome is food marketing and cost because unhealthy food is cheaper,” she said.
Most importantly, this program will turn its interest to a subset that typically does not garner attention, Kenney said.
“At this point, let’s concentrate on young woman because that’s what lacks focus,” he said.
Contact Staff Writer Amanda Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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