UMM players, coach share reading fundamentals

Stories about college athletes cheating in school, accepting payoffs, assaulting other students or breaking the law appear to be on the rise these days. It seems almost every day, at least one can be found in newspapers or on the airwaves.

This is not one of those stories.

This is about an NAIA Division II college basketball coach and a few of his players who donated some of their time to local grade-school pupils in an effort to promote literacy and reading.

Three University of Maine-Machias men’s basketball players joined head coach Randy Lee as they traveled to Cave Hill School in Eastbrook last week to assist with the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program.

“Mr. [Dave] Burks contacted us about their program and invited us down,” said Lee. “We read to the younger students in small settings and had some players talk to the older kids about the process of making the transition from middle school to high school to college.”

Senior Jemel Davila from Miami; junior A.J. Morgan of Vaughan, Ontario; and sophomore Moti Kardish of Tel Aviv, Israel made the trip along with Lee. Lee and Davila read to kindergarten and first-grade pupils while Morgan and Keardish read to second- and third-graders. Later, all four UMM reps addressed grades 4-8 students about the importance of graduating from high school and the transition into two- and four-year colleges.

“It’s an interesting mix with a Cuban, Israeli and Canadian player on our team getting a chance to talk about their cultures with the kids,” Lee said. “My talk was about pursuing their dreams and setting goals.

“I think the big thing is just opening their eyes more and letting them know how they can make college more attainable, and to let them know they need to start pursuing their dreams and thinking big.”

The UMM players handed out free passes to Clippers games next season and talked about their team as well.

“I loved the experience,” Lee said. “We’d most definitely like to keep doing this. It was a lot of fun and the kids were great. We’re looking to head back down and do clinics for both soccer and basketball as well.”

Lee said it was an opportunity for his players and him to showcase the UMM program off the court.

“Oftentimes, people refer to us as having a diverse team with all the different nationalities we have with our players, but it’s also important for everyone to understand we do give back to the local community too,” he said.

The Clippers, who won the Sunrise Conference tournament two seasons ago and finished as runner-up last season, should again contend for a title next season with all five starters back and seven of their top nine players returning.

“We’ve won back-to-back Sunrise Conference regular season titles and advanced to the national tournament in 2003-04,” said Lee, who will be entering his third season at UMM next winter. “We’re excited about the future.”

Sinclair, Garcia All-Americans

University of Southern Maine senior Kristen Sinclair of Manchester and Colby College senior Xavier Garcia earned All-American honors at the Division III Track and Field Championships in Waverly, Iowa.

Sinclair, competing in the javelin for the third year in a row, would up third with a heave of 139 feet, 8 inches. Garcia, a triple jumper, set a Colby school record with a leap of 48-6.75, breaking his old mark of 48-2 set last year. Garcia’s mark earned him sixth place in the meet.

Keenan new UNE golf coach

The University of New England golf team has a new coach in Kasey Keenan.

The Presque Isle native replaces Curt Smyth, who resigned from that post after two years.

Keenan graduated from the Biddeford school in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in sports and fitness management. He also serves as UNE’s director of intramurals and recreational sports. Keenan also has been an assistant men’s basketball coach at UNE for two years.