Sharing the Stage

Hundreds of supporters have been flocking to see Smith’s basketball team continue to dominate regular and postseason play for the second straight year. The excitement makes it nearly impossible to score a ticket—home games sold out within minutes, and the team capped off their last game in Ainsworth Gym for the season with a thrilling 52–50 win over Amherst last Saturday—but there’s one group in particular with a special in: the Playmakers Club.

Established in the summer of 2024 as a way to give back to the local community, the Playmakers Club is the brainchild of head coach Lynn Hersey and the rest of the coaching staff. It offers leadership development and self-confidence workshops, basketball skills clinics, the opportunity to scrimmage at halftime during Smith home games, and other activities all free of charge. Since its inception, the club has welcomed 143 local girls ranging from kindergarteners to eighth graders.

“We’ve had an extremely invested following throughout the last two years, and we’re profoundly grateful for the community and their support,” Hersey says. “I thought about that a lot in terms of understanding the challenges of young girls these days, especially because I have two daughters of my own. I wanted to find a way we could use our program and platform to elevate their confidence, their self-esteem, and their belief in themselves.”

It’s a holistic initiative—one designed to uplift girls both on and off the court—that’s been well received by the greater Northampton community. Players say that the club brings just as much joy and inspiration to team members as it does to their young cohorts.

“We’ve been in their shoes, and we know exactly what it’s like to be at these camps, to be around college players and look up to them,” says guard Selam Maher ’26. “But at the same time, it’s more than just basketball. We’re empowering these young girls, building up their confidence while showing them how that looks as college athletes ourselves. It’s a really great balance.”

In addition to meeting with club members before and after games, the team participates in different activities with them designed to foster self-confidence, leadership, and of course, fun. One evening saw the groups making vision boards together (Smithies have theirs hung above their lockers) while another featured a “make your own jersey” event (Maher fondly recalls that several playmakers wrote the names and numbers of herself and her teammates instead of their own on their jerseys). Guard Hannah Martin ’27 recalls a workshop where she and her teammates asked the playmakers to draw or write something they excel at, and something they want to improve.

“Seeing them celebrate themselves was really special,” says Martin. “They talked about being good basketball players and good swimmers, but they also wrote about their kindness and generosity, and being good friends. It was so good to see, especially in such a young group of girls.”

It’s a sentiment that Hersey echoes, and one that’s at the heart of both the Playmakers Club and Smith itself. “The club is a unique way to use our sport to create a type of synergy and connection between these girls, the community, and our team. I think Smith is a special home for it.”

That synergy and connection is tangible during one series of events in particular: when members of the Playmakers Club take to the court during halftime to compete in a 10-minute scrimmage of their own. Moments like that are ones that stick with Hersey and remind her why the program is so important.

“I love seeing that boldness in them as they play, especially in front of a packed house,” she says. “They’re confident and not afraid of the moment; they’re running toward it. They’re bringing their best selves to the team in that moment. It all happens on our players’ stage, and I love that we get to put them on that stage too.”