By Ray Porter Jr./Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–Giving back to the community refers to voluntary actions taken by individuals or organizations to contribute to the greater good of their local community or society. This can involve donating time, money, skills, or resources to support causes, organizations, or individuals in need.
Whenever an athlete succeeds, no matter how successful they get, no matter how many awards they win or money that they make, one can never put a price tag on ‘giving back.’
Oakland Catholic Senior basketball star London Creach has embraced and demonstrated that ethic at her youthful age by hosting a Back-to-School Basketball Clinic on August 10th, called Court Time with Creach-as she and several high school stars helped with drills. Among them, Woodland Hills’ Scoop Smith, and Kennedy Catholic’s Layke Fields.
“It’s been good. I think everyone’s having fun,” said Creach. “Everyone’s getting better. The workouts were hard, I heard (from other coaches), but I think overall, it’s been pretty good.”
The motivation behind giving back is often altruistic – a desire to make a positive difference and improve the lives of others. It can give people a longer sense of community, build connections between people, and contribute to the overall well-being of a local area or society.
For the Basketball Clinic, Creach’s goal was 40 participants and $1,000 donation. On August 10th, she was able to exceed both with a $3,000 donation with 45 participants, 31 volunteers, and 32 sponsors.
Creach shared her other goals for the clinic: “For everyone to have fun and get better and if I have another one, that they’ll being their friends and hopefully they’ll come back.”
When asked how it felt to host her own clinic, Creach replied: “I was kind of nervous, but I do plan to have more in the future. I learn from my mistakes with planning.”
In addition to high school coaches helping out, there were a lot of basketball legends also present to show support, such as Penn Hills and WPIAL Legend (and Obama Academy head coach) Monique McCoy and the Aaron Donald 99 Solutions Foundation. “A lot of people came. I’m just blessed to have those people in my life.” Said Creach.
Creach has had an amazing Junior Basketball season. In 2023-24, she helped her Oakland Catholic Eagles to a 24-0 record before sustaining a season-ending injury in a WPIAL quarterfinal win against North Hills on Feb. 23. Her value to her team was evident as the Eagles lost three of their final five games following Creach’s injury. Last season, Creach averaged 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.9 steals per game while shooting 54.1% from the field and 75.4% from the free-throw line.
For her efforts, Creach was named Trib Live Class HSSN Girls Basketball Class 5A Player of the Year, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2024 girls’ basketball Fabulous 5, she was added to the Pittsburgh Union Project (PUP) girls’ basketball all-star team, The Pennsylvania All-State Girls Basketball team, the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class 5A Second Team, BIG 56 Conference 5A-3 All-Section 1st Team.
Creach has also committed to Robert Morris University.
When asked about her Senior Year goals, Creach replied, “For me to play the entire year, and for our team to accomplish last season’s goals this season.”
With her leadership skills, positive attitude, and heart, Creach will always give back.
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