COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Men's and Women's Basketball hosted a basketball clinic on Saturday for area boys and girls at Douglass Park.

The clinic was a collaborative effort, put on in part by the University of Missouri, the Columbia Public School district, and the outreach unit of the Columbia Police Department. Now in its second year, the clinic continues to connect members of the Columbia community with Mizzou.

"We want to send the message that amazing things happen when we work together," Director of Recruiting for Mizzou Women's Basketball Willie Cox said. "The University of Missouri, the Columbia Police force, and Columbia Public Schools and other schools in the area came together to make this happen. There is a wide-scope of people at this event, and we all had to do our part and collaborate to make this thing work."

This collaboration resulted in a two-hour long clinic, where local kids were able to play and learn from the athletes they look up to. A theme throughout the day was that everyone, even the athletes, had to start somewhere and got to where they were as a result of hard work.  

"We all started at a young age, we all started at camps like this, loving the game," junior guard Terrence Phillips said. "A lot of these kids look up to us so being able to come out here with the kids and play basketball with your idol, it's just a fun way to give back and there's no better way to give back than through basketball."

At the end of the day, the skills and lessons learned culminated in a morning that the kids or athletes won't ever forget.

"It's so great to put something like this on," Columbia Police Chief Kenneth Burton said. "For these kids, they know all of these players, first name and last name. It is their pro team. They will never forget this experience."

The value to the kids and the community is obvious, but the athletes got a lot from the clinic as well. Both squads had the opportunity to teach people that look to them as role models, and the service skills they learn at events like this will stay with them long after they leave Columbia and the University of Missouri.

"We were talking about it this morning," redshirt junior guard Lauren Aldridge said. "Just how much we love doing community service. This community just rallies behind us in every way. It's really awesome to be able to give back and impact these kids' lives in a positive way on a Saturday morning."

For all the latest on Mizzou's basketball programs, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.