The Lady Bulldog basketball program has made it a tradition to get involved with the community. Head coach Sharon Fanning teaches her players the importance of giving back.
“An important emphasis in any program is giving,” said head coach Sharon Fanning. “I believe we are training life skills as well as basketball skills. We want our communities to support us; therefore, we in turn support them. We believe these activities will help develop young leaders both on and off the court.”
Upcoming MSU outreach programs are the MSU Halloween Carnival (Oct. 31), involvement in Special Olympics (Nov. 15) and Bully’s Book Blitz (TBA).
For Halloween, the team will run “The Lady Bulldog Shootout” booth in front of the amphitheater on the campus of Mississippi State. Bully’s Book Blitz involves the players reading to local fourth grade students.
2002-03 Lady Bulldog Community Outreach programs inlcude: Adopt-A-Family–Every Christmas season the Lady Bulldogs adopt a local family in need and donate perishables and gifts.
Adopt-A-Player–Elementary Schools in the area are assigned a player to watch and support throughout the season.
Coaches Clinic–MSU coaches annually invite coaches from around the area to come and learn
for a day from Lady Bulldog basketball.
Guest Coach program–Coach Fanning invites people of the university, community and even celebrities to come and be a guest coach for a game and experience Lady Bulldog basketball from the inside.
Mentor program–Each basketball player is paired up with a member of the faculty or staff at
MSU to cultivate a relationship.
Very Special Arts–Is a day of fun and learning through the arts for children and adults with disabilities. The Lady Bulldogs help the participants decorate goody bags that they use to carry their art projects and prizes.
Other programs they have been involved with are the American Heart Association Walk-A-Thon, Habitat for Humanity and United Way.