RALEIGH, N.C. — Three WNBA players recently paid a visit to Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School as part of a clinic hosted by the WNBA and Junior NBA called “Her Time to Play.”

One of the people who helped bring the clinic to the area also happens to be a graduate of that high school.

The “Her Time to Play” initiative aims to connect and inspire young female athletes. The girls who attended the clinic in southeast Raleigh could take part in a panel discussion with three WNBA players, as well as talk about life off the court with other successful women in the industry.

“It’s just good for the girls to see that there are possibilities. There are different ways to have careers in sports, whether you are a sports psychologist or you play professional basketball," Nicole Sampson, the varsity basketball coach at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, said. 

"It’s just good for girls to see that representation up close and personal,” Sampson said.

Arielle Chambers is a Raleigh native and hosts the WNBA initiative.

Chambers says she was excited to bring the program to a place that’s near and dear to her heart.

(Spectrum News 1)

“I am a 2009 graduate of Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, and it’s really the reason why I’m in basketball. It’s funny, my friend Jerry, she’s actually here right now, tweeted out ‘She quit cheerleading to be our girl's basketball manager.’ And that’s where it all started. So when I was 14 years old, I dove into girls basketball head first and never looked back,” Chambers said.

Chambers knows what it’s like to be a young female athlete and says events like this one can have a lasting impact.

“No matter what your circumstances are, no matter what you were born with, the resources you have, you can always push beyond that. So just as being a walk on is ample for what you can be,” Chambers said.

Kahleah Copper, who plays for the Chicago Sky, says she didn’t have the chance to meet WNBA players when she was young. She believes representation can make a big difference.

“If you can see it, you know, it’s something that she can be, so, for us to be an arm’s length is important and also for them to hear our stories and know that the same thing that they’re going through that we went through, and that is still possible to make it,” Copper said.

The girls who attended also took part in a panel discussion with the WNBA players and other professionals in the industry, exploring topics like mental health and balancing life as a student athlete.

The two other WNBA players who attended were Ariel Atkins with the Washington Mystics and Jasmine Thomas with the Connecticut Sun.