UH Women’s Basketball to Host Classroom on the Court

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 7, 2008) The University of Houston women’s basketball team will join itsfellow Conference USA members to host Classroom on the Court this Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion. The Cougars will welcome a large group of area elementary students to the UH campus to meet the Cougars and participate in the event, which is slated to begin at 4 p.m.

The schedule features a variety of interactive games in which selected students in attendance will be able to compete as well as a sneak preview look at the Cougars, who will hit the court in a intrasquad scrimmage. Following the activates at Hofhienz, members of the team will escort the students over to the tailgating area near Robertson Stadium for an autograph session and pre-football game tailgating. The UH football team faces Tulane at 7 p.m., Saturday.

In addition to the Classroom on the Court activities, the scrimmage is open to members of the public who wish to catch the Cougars in action before their season begins on Monday with a scrimmage against the Houston Jaguars at 7 p.m.

Classroom on the Court is a grassroots program that will introduce school children in grades four and five to their local Conference USA Women's Basketball team, as well as the entire league, through a curriculum-based program. This program will motivate students to learn in a fun way, using sports as the focus, and ultimately increasing attendance as their affinity for their local women's basketball team develops and grows.

The NCAA established a funding program "to grow women's basketball from the inside out and at a grassroots level." The NCAA also committed annual funding for a three-year program in an effort to specifically enhance Division I women's basketball attendance.

The league has partnered up with Sporting Geography to produce worksheets, postcards, email and mailing distribution lists that targets teachers of fourth and fifth graders in all 11 C-USA cities. Once a teacher registers his/her class, participation in the Classroom on the Court program occurs any time they attend one of their local women's basketball games and/or complete a gameday worksheet.

Registered students will receive a bar-coded credential and t-shirt (base on availability) affording them season long complimentary admission to their local women's basketball games. By attending the games and completing the game day worksheet they accumulate points for their schools. In addition, they will be given a sticker at the C-USA table, to adhere to their credential to track and reward their individual attendance. For example, after a student has attended three games he/she will receive one free guest admission tickets.

Students are rewarded for their attendance throughout the season, while the schools and classes with the highest totals are rewarded at the end of the season with fabulous prizes.