The men's Final Four will begin Saturday, April 4, in Indianapolis, Indiana. While a lot of attention will be paid to the men's teams who will be playing (Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, and UConn), there will be a little bit of WNBA sparkle to the weekend's events thanks to Tamika Catchings and Geico.
The pair are partnering to bring basketball fun to the literal streets of Indianapolis. While speaking to High Post Hoops this week, Catchings explained, "We get to dribble on the street — the street will be on lockdown — so we get to dribble down the street. And for a lot of them, this might be the first time being able to attend an event, with the Final Four here, because they're young, younger."
Having the opportunity to introduce kids to basketball is special for Catchings, who started her Catch a Star Foundation in 2004. For her, joy is an incredibly important part of the game, and so is bringing more boys and girls to the women's side of things.
"I mean, you see me smiling, it's because I just go back [in time]," she explained. "Obviously the WNBA wasn't around when I was younger. So it was for me, it was like, I'm going to the NBA." But now kids in Indiana have tons of opportunities to enjoy elite, professional basketball, whether that's the Indiana Fever, the Pacers, or the city's G League team.
"We put so much pressure on these kids now as they're getting older," she said. "'You've got to tune into one sport, you can only do this, you can only do that'." That can end up making kids feel like pro sports is the only viablae path from a young age, she added. The weekend's events will allow Catchings and even some of Geico's own staff to show off their skills and underscore the fact that basketball should be fun.
Indianapolis has become an important city
Catchings went to college at the University of Tennessee, and tore her ACL during her senior year. She initially hoped to complete her rehab at home, but Indiana told her she needed to go ahead and come up after the WNBA Draft.
That turn of events was a blessing in disguise that afforded her the opportunity to begin putting down roots in the city that would come to define her career in many ways. "And I was mad at first," Catchings said of the move. "I'm not going to lie. But I moved here and started doing my rehab and being around the team."
She could have been angry and refused to get out into the city, but "it makes it a lot better when you get out into the community," Catchings explained. "And serving youth has always been an inspiration."