Celebrating the Detroit Shock

MONDAY, JULY 27TH, 2009 AT 5:05 PM
Celebrating the Detroit Shock
Posted by Katherine Brandon

The President invited the Detroit Shock to the White House today, where he congratulated them on their third WNBA Championship in six years. Earlier in the day, the Shock hosted a WNBA Fit Clinic at the local Boys and Girls Club, as part of United We Serve. The President praised the team's dedication to service, and noted the great work they have done in Detroit.

He also praised the team, and the WNBA, for serving as inspiration to a generation of young girls who dream of playing professional sports:


Let me also say something as a father -- I was mentioning it to the team before we came out. It's hard to believe the WNBA has already been around for 12 years. And that means that my daughters have never known a time when women couldn't play professional sports.

They look at the TV and they see me watching SportsCenter and they see young women who look like them on the screen. And that lets them and all our young women, as well as young men know that we should take for granted that women are going to thrive and excel as athletes. And it makes my daughters look at themselves differently; to see that they can be champions, too. So, as a father, I want to say thank you. (Applause.) And thank you to all the WNBA athletes who work hard each day to set a positive example to which all our daughters can aspire.