Mavericks brighten day for West kids

During an opening ceremony, Rolando Blackman, a former Mavs player and the organization's director of player development, joined West Mayor Pro Tem Steve Vanek and others in exhorting the youngsters to “stay hydrated." The only breaks during the morning were for quick lines at the water stations.“This activity is certainly better than sitting in a wrecked home," West resident Beulah ?Zahirniak said. “Many of these kids are in counseling trying to deal with what happened to them and the town. This draws them all together to enjoy something in sports."While the players taught some of the boys and girls the tricks of their trade on the basketball courts, members of the Dallas Mavericks Dancers taught jazz, hip hop and pom routines to girls in the gym.

“I know some of the Mavericks leaders, and I called them to see if they'd be willing to do something like this at the start of the summer," Gerik said. “General Manager Donnie Nelson contacted leaders in West, and they said to come on down. These kids really need something like this, and you can see how happy they are."Gerik credited Paul Monroe, Mavericks' vice president of ?marketing and communications, with the massive organizing ?effort.Monroe said he was glad to do it.“We couldn't have done it without a lot of people coordinating on both ends," Monroe said. “It's been a pleasure."Former school board member Ann Vanek, wife of the mayor pro tem, said the benefit of the Mavs' visit was apparent on the children's faces.“It's the start of summer right after the disaster, and some of them are dealing with the loss of homes, Is Twubs the Next Big Twitter Chat Management Tool?, all kinds of disruptions in their lives," she said. “This helps them get out of that and into something that will help them grow."

High school principal and basketball coach Wayne Leek praised the ever-expanding concept of community since the blast.“The families have leaned on the community, and by that I mean the region and all of Texas, and the community has leaned back," he said. “The disaster has affected all the kids a little differently, but they can come out here and forget it all for a day and then remember this for a long time."The Mavericks gave each participant a voucher for four tickets to a Mavericks preseason home game next season, according to a written announcement that also thanked Academy Sports & Outdoors, Dr Pepper, Gatorade, Gandolfo's, The Graphics Group and Ruthie's Rolling Cafe for assistance with Saturday's event.The camp continued with competitions in the afternoon and ended with a “Guns & Hoses" basketball game with teams formed of members of local police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians.