Special Olympics Florida Athletes take the floor during the 2008 Women’s NCAA® Final Four® 

For one hour, Huskies, Volunteers, Cardinals and Tigers all set aside their allegiances to support the same group of basketball players. What could inspire such behavior? Special Olympics athletes, of course!

As part of the NCAA Women’s Final Four, the NCAA and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association hosted a very special YES® Clinic, fueled by POWERade, for Special Olympics athletes on Saturday, April 5 at “Hoop City,” refreshed by Coca-Cola, inside the Tampa Convention Center.

Fans of all of the Final Four teams stopped to watch and cheer on over 40 local Special Olympics athletes who received instruction and were taken through a skills and drills clinic by Betsy Blose, Head Coach of the University of North Carolina - Asheville and her coaching staff: Summer Erb, Adell Harris and Brooke Johnson. Coach Blose is a longtime supporter of Special Olympics and has lead several clinics for athletes around the country.

Joining the festivities were Special Olympics North America President Bob Gobrecht and his wife, Chris Gobrecht, the Head Coach of Yale’s women’s basketball team.

Check out more clinic photos!

The YES Clinics fueled by POWERade, emphasize sport instruction, conditioning, sportsmanship and life skills development for young athletes. Visit www.NCAA.com/yesclinic  to learn more.

[NCAA, Women’s Final Four, Hoop City and YES are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.]