Nov. 30, 2007

JACKSON, Miss. - The Jackson State University Lady Tigers basketball team filled two vans Friday afternoon (Nov. 9) headed to Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital.

The entire team, including head coach Denise Taylor and two assistant coaches, attended the community service event. They divided into four teams, and each team focused on one floor of the hospital.

The team started having so much fun with the patients they forgot that it was community service. "We were doing it from the heart, and that took place of feeling like a chore," says Lasheree Christian, a senior from Bellflower, Ca.

Players would stop at each door with JSU pompons and player-autographed basketballs for the children. If the patient was up and alert, the players would enter the room singing and clapping their own basketball cheer, "La-dy Ti-gers."

The patients asked for most of the players to stay around and play with them individually at pool and card games, like UNO. The Lady Tigers could not resist the challenge, and had to suffer a few losses.

Erica Trahan, a junior from Baton Rouge, La., played more than three rounds of pool with the patients and lost each of them. "This is my first time doing something like this," said Trahan. "Other than losing, I feel really good; different, but good."

Tishawn Thames, a child life specialist for Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital, said the hospital tries really hard to make the patients feel like children and be comfortable. The patients lose so many opportunities to live normal lives, so they are indulged with enjoyable things such as art products, Xbox 360s, Super Nintendo video games, Monopoly board games and UNO card games.

Thames hosted the Lady Tigers throughout the hospital visit and personally introduced them to some of the patients.

The players and coaches stopped in the hallway at times to catch patients who were temporarily taken out of their rooms. This is where the team met 17-year-old William Curry, who is bound to a wheelchair but is still very spirited.

The Lady Tigers posed for a picture with Curry, and when Taylor tried to slide her sunshades down to pose for the picture, Curry asked her if she thought she looked sharp. That received great laughter from the team, Curry and the hospital staff.

Thames feels like the visit was a complete success and urges the Jackson State to come back again.

The Lady Tigers enjoyed the day as well, and many plan to visit the children again as a team or on an individual basis.

Eboni Ross, a freshman from Lithonia, Ga., said, "I want to go everyday now." It was her first time participating in a project like that. Ross said everyone should do so.

Carena Easley, a fourth-year player, says that visiting the children makes them appreciate being healthy and having the ability play basketball everyday.

"I saw a lot of kids who had to lie on their stomach and could only look in one direction until someone came and turned their head to the other direction," Easley said.

The idea for going to the children's hospital generated from Taylor who wanted to do a community service project as a team. They contacted the head of community services at JSU, Tim Abrams, and got the idea for Blair E. Batson.

The Lady Tigers hope to continue community ideas together, such as visiting nursing homes, participating in Habitat for Humanity, and talking to adolescents at the local YMCAs.

To support the Lady Tigers, cheer them on at their home games on campus at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.