Connecticut
Connecticut Sun host youth clinic ahead of game at TD Garden
BOSTON — The Connecticut Sun are making their arrival in Boston well-known.
The Sun – who will play in the first WNBA game at TD Garden Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Sparks – held their first Connecticut Sun Youth Sports Festival Saturday afternoon at the Track at New Balance.
The event featured 20-minute clinics run by Sun Academy, the team’s official youth basketball platform. There were stations with the PWHL, NWHL and LPGA, as well as Microsoft’s Science of Basketball STEM sessions and Daily Human’s mental strength conditioning sessions.
“It’s really exciting and it makes us feel good because planning this was very nerve-racking. We were unsure if people would come, if they would hear about it,” Morgan Tuck, the Sun’s assistant general manager, said Saturday. “It’s to see and give people an understanding that the Connecticut Sun are here and that we can offer really good experiences – I think that’s what we try to focus on.”
Mitchell Hercule brought his son and daughter to the youth clinic. They’ll also be in attendance Tuesday at TD Garden as the Sun play in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,156. Hercule runs the “Ladies Night” basketball program in Brockton for girls ages 6-19 and has watched the women’s game grow over the past few years.
“It’s a great situation because all they’re used to seeing is guys playing basketball. When they see girls playing basketball, and women playing basketball, they can aspire to be like those women. You can only be what you can see,” Hercule said Saturday. “I’ve been working with girls’ basketball for 20 years in Massachusetts, and the last two to three years have been phenomenal for the girls.”
The Sun, known as New England’s WNBA team, are trying to further break into the Boston market and connect with a new group of fans through their game at TD Garden. Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti said the organization was unsure of what the reception of their Boston debut would be, but has been pleasantly surprised by the outpour of support.
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Tuesday’s sold-out, 7:00 p.m. matchup is the third-highest attendance to a WNBA game thus far this season, and the most-sold tickets to a Sun game in the franchise’s history. The Sun have played at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, since 2003 – it has a capacity of 10,000 seats.
“It’s really validating,” Rizzotti said Saturday. “To see the way that the Boston and New England market has turned out, and the excitement around having the chance to have access to a WNBA game has been unbelievable. I think it’s just a testament to how much the game has grown and how popular women’s basketball is across the county.”
The Sun will face the Atlanta Dream on Sunday before shipping up to Boston for Tuesday’s historic game at the Garden. Connecticut topped the Dallas Wings 109-91 in its first game action since July 16 on Friday. While every game in the latter half of the season matters, Tuesday’s matchup against the Sparks holds a greater meaning for the league and the state of women’s basketball as a whole.
“For a lot of our players it’s going to be the first time they’ve played in front of that many people or been in that situation,” Tuck said. “I think it is going to bring a lot more excitement to the game … a really proud moment to showcase our product.”