On Thursday, Aug. 18, longtime Wellington resident Emily May shared her passion for basketball with a number of school children on England’s Isles of Scilly (pronounced “silly”), an archipelago of islands located about 30 miles off the southwest coast of England.
On the morning and afternoon of Aug. 18, she conducted two separate basketball clinics for a number of local elementary and middle school-age children living on the islands.
The clinics, provided as a courtesy to local children due to her family’s long-standing ties to those islands, took place inside the gym at the Five Islands School on the main island of St. Mary’s. May’s act of global goodwill through basketball was supported by Visit Scilly, the local group that promotes tourism on the islands.
The 28-year-old May enjoyed sharing her passion and knowledge for basketball, which she played in high school at Berean Christian School and in college for Northwood University, now Keiser University in West Palm Beach, and for St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. She now coaches high school basketball and a girls travel basketball team, Miami Impact.
“The clinics were wonderful,” May said. “I had a small group of secondary boys in the morning. Then, in the afternoon, I had a larger group of primary boys and girls, which was awesome.”
Part of Visit Scilly’s support of the clinics was providing May with round-trip transportation to the Isles of Scilly aboard the Scillonian III, the passenger ship that provides daily service between the Isles of Scilly and the port of Penzance, located in England’s most southwesterly county of Cornwall. The trip aboard the Scillonian III lasts around two hours and 30 minutes. While visiting the islands, she stayed with a local couple, Terry and Jane Ward.
May said that the trip aboard the Scillonian III to the Isles of Scilly on Wednesday, Aug. 17 was a sight-seeing adventure.
“We saw Cornwall’s southern coastline until it stopped at Land’s End, and then we were out to sea,” May said. “The trip back to Penzance aboard the Scillonian III on Saturday, Aug. 20 was fun, too. I can’t wait to return.”
It’s fair to say that the locals, known as Scillonians, would also like to see her return, ready to share her knowledge and passion for basketball.
