HOMECOMING 2008 - Florida Tech Today - Florida Institute of ...

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Athletics
Florida Tech Men’s
Basketball Gives Back
The men’s basketball team just
wrapped up a phenomenal year.
Individual workouts, practices and
games, not to mention classes,
has made life on the Space Coast
hectic for these men.
But when they were
presented with the
opportunity to give back
to their community,
they all wanted in.
Head coach Billy
Mims piloted the Slam
Dunk Smoking program
while he was coaching
in England, after learning
of an alarming statistic about
young people and smoking. The
idea for the name came from the
most exciting shot in basketball—
the slam dunk. The kids aren’t tall
enough to slam dunk a ball now,
“i had an idea that
taking high profile
athletes in the
schools will get
kids attention.”
but they are encouraged to slam
dunk cigarettes.
“I had an idea that taking high
profile athletes in the schools will
get kids attention,” said Mims.
“This way they are more
willing to listen to the
message.”
This highly interactive
program gets the kids
involved in the show. In
exchange for enthusiasm
and answering questions
correctly, they get to meet
the athletes and compete
in basketball skill challenges
for prizes. While they are
having fun, they are learning about
the dangers of smoking and how to
say no.
“We don’t want them to ever
start smoking,” said Mims. “This is
Billy Mims
Head Coach Billy Mims prepares a basketball
skill drill with two students from St. Mark’s
Episcopal Academy while Florida Tech
basketball player Paul Sturgess looks on.
about enjoying life, playing sports
and having fun.”
In addition to Slam Dunk
Smoking, Mims and his team are
involved in the Read to Succeed
program, which he brought over
with him from his time in England
as well. In Brevard County, the
program is targeted specifically to
third graders. Their curriculum
requires them to read a book called
Ally’s Basketball Dream. In the
story, Ally dreams of becoming a
professional basketball player, but
everyone tells her it’s not possible.
“This is a great tie-in to bring
our players as positive role models
to reinforce the message that reading
is critical to success in life,”
said Mims.
Similar to Slam Dunk
Smoking, this program is