NORTH WEBSTER — Dribble to Stop Diabetes made a stop in North Webster on Tuesday, bringing a nationally known professional basketball player amongst its campaign.

Working with campers at Camp Crosley in North Webster was professional basketball player Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever. Catchings, a former national champion with the Tennessee Lady Vols, USA Olympic gold medal winner and WNBA MVP, appeared to speak and work with over 100 diabetic children at Camp Crosley on the importance of staying active.

Dribble to Stop Diabetes, a national multimedia campaign developed by the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the NBA Development League, in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association and Sanofi US, encourages fans to live an active, healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about diabetes prevention, management and the potentially serious health complications that can be associated with the disease.

Catchings, who addressed the attentive audience that she had jumped in the car to be with them after practicing all morning with the Fever, made the campers promise to never say “I Can’t”, to hustle and to listen while running through a series of FIT Stations set up around Camp John Warvel. Catchings worked personally with kids on dribbling and hustling, as well as being a good teammate.

In the press release given ahead of the event, figures show that nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, and every 17 seconds – the time it takes for a timeout in a basketball game – someone in the United States is diagnosed with the disease. On top of that, an estimated seven million people remain undiagnosed with type 2 diabetes which is why driving awareness through the Dribble to Stop Diabetes program is so essential.