Children from kindergarten through the second grade have the chance to learn the fundamentals of basketball at an instructional clinic offered every Saturday morning during the month of February, 2010 at the Boys and Girls Club on Bedford Street. The program gives both boys and girls a chance to learn and practice before they play basketball games at the facility when they enter the third grade. The Club also has a separate area for K-2 children, including a full-size game room and activities including bumper pool, billiards, power ball, and air hockey. Weekly tournaments and arts and crafts projects are run weekly at no charge. Swimming lessons and fun swims are offered on a scheduled basis. Indoor and outdoor playgrounds are also available to ensure that younger children have plenty of opportunity to engage in safe and vigorous play. For more information about the basketball clinic, contact Monica Tavares at 508-672-6340. For information about very low-cost memberships, call the Club at 508-672-6340.
 

(Top row, left) Direct care staff member Matt Desrochers asks the boys to line up at the start of the session. (Top row, center) Sports Management Intern Billy Lynn, social-recreational director Monica Tavares and Matt Desrochers pose for a photo before class. (Top row, right) Direct care staff member Ashley Reis asks the children to make sure they have rubber-soled shoes before she takes the girls off to another area for the clinic. (Middle row, left and right) Matt lines the boys up before instructing them to run two laps of the gym and then gathers them to hand out balls. (Middle row, center) Five-year-old Benjamin Pacheco takes the lead in the group run. (Bottom row, left and right) Isaiah Thompson practices dribbling the ball before the group dribbles down the court and around the cones. (Bottom row, center) Matt gets some assistance with teaching from member Dante Maldonado.