News and Events

Friday Home Basketball: Free Admission for Girls; Jump Ropers, Jugglers, Hula Hoopers, Pogo Stickers to Perform

January 31, 2012
 

 

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Girls and their families can take advantage of free admission this Friday when the Whitman College basketball teams host their Northwest Conference counterparts from Pacific Lutheran.

Admission is free for girls and their families as the Whitman women's basketball program sponsors its annual "Bring a Girl to the Game Night" in celebration of February's National Girls and Women in Sports Month.

Photo Top Page

 That's a youngster jump roping while
on a pogo stick, wowing Whitman students at a recent TOPPs performance

The women's game starts at 6 p.m. in Sherwood Center with the men's game to follow at about 8 p.m.

Halftime of the women's game will feature an always amazing performance by the uber-energetic and wildly enthusiastic TOPPs group from Walla Walla's Prospect Point Elementary School.

Fans can expect more than 150 smiling youngsters to hit the court -- with music blaring -- for an overwhelming display of juggling and jump roping, hula hooping, pogo sticking, cup stacking and double dutching.

The TOPPS team, under the guidance of physical education teacher Keith Reardon, have been wowing audiences since 1999.

Reardon's roster, which is open to students from kindergarten through the fifth grade, has grown this year to 170 youngsters. Given the team size, the group splits in two each week for its practices.

Team members create their own routines with Reardon on hand to keep them from trying any stunts that are not safe.

During their performances around town, notes Reardon, the youngsters are "encouraged to smile, make eye contact" and present a "big finish for their audience, sort of like a gymnast after a routine."

Friday's basketball games will be followed on Saturday with a second NWC doubleheader.

The women's game against Puget Sound starts that night at 5 p.m. with the Whitman-Puget Sound men's game to follow at 8 p.m.

With the NWC regular season hitting its stretch run, both Whitman teams are in the thick of playoff races.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu