Stringer inspires on Ladies Night

May 20, 2011

Rutgers University women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer is the third winningest coach in the history of her sport, was the first coach to take three different universities to the Final Four and has been inducted into several Hall of Fames. 

But, at the Coaches4Character Young Ladies Night Program at the Redemption World Outreach Center Thursday night, Stringer sent out a message that anything is obtainable - with hard work. 

"I found that my passion was coaching basketball," said Stringer. "When I started (at Cheyney State) we didn't have much money, didn't even have money for uniforms. The players bought their own uniforms. But it was something I would have done for free. Getting paid on top of it, that was incredible. 

"You can accomplish anything in life, but you have to have a passion for it and you have to be willing to put in the work."

Stringer's message appeared to fir the winner of The Greenville News Coaches4Character Award -- Rodian Manjarres and Alexus Harris, students at Northwood Middle School. 

Manjarres, an eighth grader, moved to Greenville with her parents from Puerto Rico when she was three years old. Despite struggling with the language barrier after arriving, she is now thriving. 

"I am very proud of her," said Manjarres' father, Rodney Manjarres. "She has come a long way. From the time we first came to Greenville she struggled a lot but she came through.  Now she is making good grades, she has won citizenship awards, I think any parent would be proud. 

She owns a blue belt in Tae Kwando and writes poetry. Her career goal is to be a sign language instructor. 

Harris, also in the eighth grade, takes honor courses at Northwood Middle. She is also an accomplished athlete as she already runs track on the high school team. 

Her teachers term her as not only a popular student but one that is a facilatator, finding solutions to problems and ways to bring her peers together. 

Her career goal is to become either a veterinarian or a surgeon and hopes to volunteer at an animal shelter this summer. 

By; Willie T. Smith III -- Greenville News