Lisa Leslie Opening New Sports Academy for Youth (716 hits)
March 02, 2012
Former WNBA star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie has already given back to Los Angelenos – first in the form of two WNBA championships and now in her own basketball academy. The retired star of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks opens the Lisa Leslie Basketball Academy in Los Angeles at the end of this month. The year-round school will teach basketball, academic and life skills to young men and women at the Westwood Sports Complex.
"I am back to collect your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and your grandchildren, too," Leslie says on her web site. "You know I'm a woman of my word. I promised you championships, rings and trophies, and I did not stop dedicating myself until it came to pass. Now it’s time for me to pass on my knowledge to the champions of tomorrow."
Leslie's academy is open to anyone who can afford the $250 monthly tuition (a part-time program is offered for $200 a month). The school includes tutoring, counseling and assistance for college-bound students who have a significant interest in or aptitude for basketball. It's open to beginning, intermediate and advanced students.
A native of Inglewood, Leslie spent her entire career in the Los Angeles area, playing basketball for Morningside High School and then at the University of Southern California. She joined the L.A. Sparks WNBA team in 1997 and is the first female basketball player to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals. She helped the Los Angeles Sparks to two WNBA titles and retired at the end of the Sparks' 2009 season as the most decorated player in WNBA history.
Now 39, Leslie is a now part owner of the Sparks and is a married mother of two with husband Michael Lockwood.
