Sun Devils Split Saturday with Homework & Handball Event
The Sun Devil Handball Team held a “Homework & Handball” community service event on the campus of Arizona State University on March 30th. The program featured a morning of rigorous academics followed by lunch and then an afternoon of handball instruction and competition.
“We had a good turnout and everybody enjoyed themselves. The Sun Devils are pleased to give back to the community and share our knowledge and the great facilities here in Tempe with future Sun Devils,” said club president and senior Derek Doyle. Doyle had reserved a classroom and six courts for the event. Students from Phoenix Union’s Carl Hayden High School awoke early that Saturday and made the trek to the ASU campus. Due to a minor oversight, no chairs or tables had been set up. When they were quickly delivered, the combined teams pitched in together and made short work of setting up the furniture. Then it was time for diligent mental effort on everybody’s part as the Sun Devils tutored the high schoolers in subjects including History of the Cold War and Korean Conflict, Algebra, Geometry and Reading Comprehension.
Two and a half hours later, Derek ordered lunch and everybody enjoyed their fill while relaxing. Carl Hayden handball coach Chris Hogan said, “Our players appreciate this great opportunity to visit ASU and receive academic help from the Sun Devils. We’re thankful for the guidance and encouragement ASU has been providing to our program.”
After lunch, the entire group headed to the courts. Once again, the Sun Devils helped the Falcons by explaining and demonstrating important handball concepts such as warming up and stretching. Sun Devils David Frances and Jason Leone instructed the group on some of their favorite serves while Chad Simonson and Shiva Narayan trained the high school students on footwork drills. Club VP Esteban Camacho helped each student with their kill shot technique. “We’re grateful for the Sun Devils’ interest in our academic success” remarked Chris, “and we’re very excited about the chance to further our handball knowledge from them and improve our competitiveness!”
Special thanks to Falcons head coach Chris Hogan for bringing the Carl Hayden students. Enormous thanks to ASU postdoctoral scholar Sean Bryan for generously sharing his time and knowledge to mentor students. Sean helped teach mathematics to the students and instructed them on a serve-and-return drill.
The Homework & Handball program is supported by ASU Sport Clubs, the US Handball Association and Success4Kids.org.