August 17, 2001

Dear Ms. Holdsclaw:

On behalf of the Lady Saints AAU Team and coaching staff, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read this e-mail. I am Damon C., Deputy Sheriff and Lady Saints head basketball coach

I began recruiting high school players about four years ago for an AAU team in an attempt to provide them with the opportunity to be exposed to the national arena of women’s basketball. The purpose of the national exposure is twofold; 1) prepare young women who are college bound on athletic scholarships for the reality of transitioning from the high school to college level of basketball. 2) Provide exposure and opportunity for equally talented young women to be seen by dozens of colleges around the nation with scholarship positions to fill. Ultimately, we want to give high school aged girls around the region the support and recognition their male counterparts receive. However, our mission isn’t simply to prepare them athletically, but academically as well. We teach our young women the importance of discipline, hard work, and the value of community service.

We attended the AAU National Invitational Championship Tournament July 7-14, 2001, in Tulsa, OK. We not only represented ourselves but our city, and I must say that our team made a great impression by winning the National Invitational Championship and bringing home the gold. We wanted to show the nation that the city of Louisville has some great female basketball players who deserve to be looked at and offered a scholarship to continue there education.

I am asking if you will be able to come and talk at our all girls’ camp. No we don’t have a date set in stone because we want to work around your calendar. I know you receive thousands of request but we hope you can find time for our young ladies in Kentucky. If possible could you please give me a contact number of your representative so that we may discuss dates and times and any other matters at hand.

In closing, I hope this letter will encourage you to do something so positive. Please support these young ladies in their quest to prepare themselves both academically and athletically. The late Jim Valvano said, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Our young ladies live by this motto and will continue to work tirelessly towards excelling in both the academic and athletic arena.

Thank you,

Damon C.