TAMPA, Fla. — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and Tampa Bay and Coca-Cola Beverages Florida provided a group of teens an opportunity to learn more about the sports industry.
A group of 15 teenagers with the Boys & Girls Clubs toured Coca-Cola Beverages Florida in Tampa on Tuesday.
The locally owned manufacturing facility has locations in Tampa, Broward, Jacksonville and Orlando. The facility produces millions of beverages every year.
The teens also joined a discussion with a panel featuring females in leadership roles.
"The panel is made up of different individuals with different job titles across different partners that are here today with us between Powerade, Coca-Cola Florida, NCAA, and some others," said Ryan Becker, Vice President of Life and Workforce Readiness for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and Tampa Bay.
"The idea again is just exposing these young women to different varying career paths," he added.
Beck Bonner was on the panel. She works for the Orlando Magic and played professional basketball in Europe.
"I went from being a college player to playing professionally in Europe and then coming back and working in women's college basketball to working at the NBA and for our national team, and now I work for the Orlando Magic," she said.
"If you're not going to be a professional basketball player, which statistics show it can be really challenging to get there, but you still love the game or you love sports and you want to be around it, there's so many other ways to contribute and getting that knowledge or meeting someone that does could impact someone younger who might have that interest," she added
Ryan Becker, Vice President of Life and Workforce Readiness for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast and Tampa Bay, said the club members will also join in on the fun surrounding the Women's Final Four in Tampa this weekend.
"All of the 15 Boys & Girls Clubs club members have been offered the opportunity to take part in Tourney Town on Saturday and also be able to go to an open practice with one of the teams to be able to see behind the scenes," he said.
Becker said he hopes these opportunities empower young women to have a plan for their future and a career path once they graduate from high school.
"The biggest hope for this is just the exposure of different industries, you don't know what you don't know. You can't be what you don't see," said Becker.
“Like my mom said, in Inside Out 2, it's like a core memory.”
ABC Action News spoke with the 11-year-old who went viral when she met her hero Paige Bueckers ahead of the NCAA Women's Final Four in Tampa.
