Behrend Basketball Celebrates Third Year With TOPS

Behrend Basketball Celebrates Third Year With TOPS

ERIE, Pa. – TOPS Basketball in its third year, is a community based program that gives special needs children from North East, Pennsylvania a fun, rich environment at the Penn State Behrend Junker Center.

The men's and women's basketball teams have worked side-by-side the past three years to promote good health, awareness and basic basketball skills that child participants carry with them throughout the year. The TOPS Basketball program is a partnership with the Behrend soccer teams, track & field, cross country, swimming & diving, water polo and the Behrend student body.  The program's goal is to pair a child with at least one student-athlete for three weeks to participate in activities such as ball handling, shooting, passing or the occasional fun run around the gym.

"TOPS Basketball is a great program for the community, our basketball teams and all of our students who volunteer. We look forward to being able to continue this in the future," said women's head coach Roz Fornari.

Fornari and head men's basketball coach David Niland would like to thank the child participants of this year's program as well as the student-athletes who volunteered their time for the cause.