ATHENS, Greece – Elon's men's and women's basketball teams used the game they love to connect with the local Athens community Tuesday, conducting a clinic for 60 young athletes from Proteas Voulas Basketball Club.

The Proteas Voulas Youth Academy is one of Greece's most prominent basketball academies, training more than 750 children across 45 divisions. Members of both Phoenix programs led the participants through group instruction featuring stretching, ball-handling and shooting drills.

"It was really cool getting to play with kids of different ages and with both boys and girls," Elon women's basketball junior guard Samira Khalil said. "Everyone was so excited to be here, and it made the clinic a lot of fun."

The clinic concluded with an energetic game of knockout, giving the Elon student-athletes and local children another opportunity to interact and enjoy the sport together.

Elon men's basketball senior guard Randall Pettus II shared a similar experience.

"It was fun to work with different groups and see how much excitement everyone brought to the court," Pettus said. "You could tell everyone was happy to be here, and a lot of them came back to the games tonight."

The visit also featured a question-and-answer session led by women's basketball graduate guard Kamryn Doty and men's basketball graduate guard Cam Thrower. The two student-athletes discussed their training habits, described a typical day in the life of a college athlete and reflected on their own early basketball experiences.

Beyond teaching basketball fundamentals, the clinic allowed the Phoenix to build relationships within the Athens community and experience how sports can bring people together across different cultures and backgrounds.

Following the clinic, both Elon teams returned to the Proteas Voulas academy Tuesday evening to compete against select teams from the club. The clinic and competition were part of the programs' Global Experience trip to Greece, which runs from Aug. 2-11 and combines educational, cultural, community service and athletic opportunities.