The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Full-Court Press: Willow Glen Elementary School student Walberta Hall gets a hug from San Jose Lasers center Katryna Gaither. Hall was so excited that she swore she'd never wash the sweatshirt she was wearing again.

San Jose Lasers team members encourage students to make their dreams come true

Education and hard work come first, young basketball fans are told

By Christine M. Lias

Two members of the San Jose Lasers women's basketball team visited with more than 100 students at Willow Glen Elementary School on a recent Friday afternoon to talk about sports, computers and how they achieved their dreams.

Katryna Gaither and Clarisse Machan-guana visited third-, fourth- and fifth-graders and brought along team mascot "Klik," team paraphernalia and advice.

"If you want to achieve your dream, you have to work on it," Machanguana said. "The easiest thing is to have a dream. The hardest thing is to work hard, believe and be willing to listen to others."

Machanguana hails from the African country of Mozambique. Several years ago, the 6-foot-5-inch center for the Lasers played on the Mozambique National Team in the African basketball championships. After graduating from Old Dominion University, she was drafted to play for the budding San Jose team.

Gaither comes from New York. She graduated from Notre Dame University and still holds the record there for most free-throw attempts in a women's basketball game.

Both Machanguana and Gaither lived in Willow Glen with friends shortly after arriving in Silicon Valley.

Ashley Guerra is a fourth-grader at Willow Glen Elementary School. Not only did Gaither live with her and her family, but Guerra spends time as a ballgirl for home Laser games. "I learned that you should try to fulfill your dream," Guerra said of the Lasers' visit, adding that she wants to play for the Lasers someday.

Student Brennan Barker also seemed riveted by the two women. "It was really cool to see professional players, and I am a Lasers fan," the fourth-grader said.

Currently, the San Jose Lasers rank third in the Western division of the American Basketball League with a 16-16 record. They were set to play against New England Jan. 20.

While at Willow Glen elementary, Gaither and Machanguana visited Karis Clason's computer lab to talk shop with about 40 students. When team mascot "Klik," an oversized female mouse with a computer mouse attached to her derriere, stepped into the room, talk turned to the role that computers plays in sport figures' lives.

Almost every hand shot up when Gaither asked who was familiar with the Internet.

"You guys are very special to have these computers," Gaither said, nodding toward the more than 50 terminals in the room.

According to teacher Clason, one-third to one-half of all Willow Glen Elementary students have a computer at home. Clason teaches her classes basic mechanics and the history of computers. In fourth and fifth grades, students begin to use the Internet.

After their tech talk, Gaither and Machanguana moved on to informally speak to Susan Quinlivan's fourth-grade class.

"We talk about sports quite often," Quinlivan said. "I think it's important for the kids to know that education comes first ... that people don't just get [drafted]."

"A lot of people said, 'You can't do it; you're not good enough,' " Machanguana said. "They were mostly boys."

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