The WNBA introduced in the present day that Los Angeles Sparks forward-center Azurá Stevens is the recipient of the Seasonlong WNBA Cares Group Help Award in recognition of her intensive efforts to assist and uplift youth throughout Los Angeles County and surrounding areas.
All through the 2024 WNBA season, Stevens participated in native occasions involving greater than 2,000 youngsters. She assisted with a shoe drive, helped conduct a number of basketball clinics and visited sufferers at an space hospital a number of instances. Stevens additionally took half in youth outreach packages by means of her staff’s Jr. Sparks platform.
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“Group outreach is so vital as a result of, with out a robust group, we wouldn’t be the place we’re in the present day,” Stevens stated. “The folks round us assist form our identities, and the place I grew up, my group performed an enormous position in making me the particular person I’m in the present day. I’m extremely grateful to have been embraced by the Los Angeles group, and I’m excited to proceed giving again and deepening my connection right here. It’s an honor to have the ability to encourage, serve and impression the subsequent era, simply as my group did for me.”
Highlights of Stevens’ efforts in the neighborhood are included under:
Air West Expertise Clinic: On Could 8, Stevens labored with youth on basic basketball drills and took part in a Q&A session.
Sneakers That Match Group Shoe Drive: On Could 22, Stevens helped distribute 900 pairs of recent footwear to all the scholar physique of South Park Elementary College in an underserved group of South Central Los Angeles.
UCLA Mattel Kids’s Hospital Go to: On July 15, Stevens made certainly one of a number of visits to UCLA Mattel Kids’s Hospital to spend one-on-time with sufferers and have interaction with dad and mom and nurses.
Jr. Sparks x Shiekh Influence: On Aug. 10, Stevens attended a Jr. Sparks x Shiekh Influence back-to-school occasion for greater than 100 ladies in Compton. Moreover, on Sept. 16, she helped host a Jr. Sparks clinic and shared recommendations on wholesome habits.
Learn to Obtain: On Sept. 20 at South Park Elementary College, Stevens visited school rooms, learn to college students and answered questions on being knowledgeable athlete.
Stevens lately accomplished her seventh WNBA season. She has profession regular-season averages of 9.4 factors and 5.0 rebounds in 176 video games. A standout participant in highschool in North Carolina and in school at Duke and Connecticut, Stevens was chosen by the Dallas Wings with the sixth general choose within the 2018 WNBA Draft. She has performed the final two seasons with the Sparks after stints with the Wings (2018-19) and the Chicago Sky (2020-22).
In recognition of Stevens’ dedication to the group, the WNBA will donate $20,000 to United Approach of Asheville and Buncombe County in North Carolina.
