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Staten Island, NY -- The Wagner men’s and women’s basketball teams participated in the inaugural Lifestyles For The Disabled Layup For Life Jamfest at the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday, April 28 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Members of both Seahawk teams led the 60-plus participants through stations that included shooting, ball handling, passing, agility play and skills breakdown. The event ended with a 20-minute game that pitted the Green & White against the Lifestyles Community.
"We at Lifestyles consider ourselves extremely lucky to have Wagner as one of our strongest community partners,” said Scott Salinardi, Director of Programs at Lifestyles For The Disabled. “Events like this truly make a difference in the lives of the Lifestyles program participants. The players, coaches and administrators who helped put this together did a fantastic job and created a memorable experience for everyone involved."
Lifestyles began operating in 1994 through collaboration amongst parents, community organizations, local business people and a group of developmentally disabled adults (program participants). Each group recognized the need to develop programs that provide program participants with realistic work settings and experiences within the Staten Island community.
“In my 20-plus years of coaching, I have never been involved in a more rewarding event then Layup For Life,” said Wagner Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach Scott Smith. “It moved me to see our young men and women get involved the way that they did.”
“Lifestyles is a unique and outstanding organization and I was just thrilled to be a part of the event,” said Wagner Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach Jen Derevjanik. “Our kids were great with the event and as a coach it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever been a part of.”
The mission of Lifestyles has always been to provide quality learning experiences that will enable all program participants, regardless of their disability, to become productive members of society and live their lives with dignity and as independently as possible. Lifestyles focuses on the abilities of each individual, rather than their disability.
“Saturday was amazing!” said rising senior forward Marie-Laurence Archambault. “I had so much fun and I think everyone there did. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to interact with members of the community better and for them to get to know us as well.”
“It's always a great feeling knowing that we're able to give back to the community” said rising junior guard Latif Rivers. “I had an incredible time and it was an amazing experience that we all enjoyed. We're definitely looking forwards to other opportunities like this in the future.”