By Thomas Jones, Sports editor

Courtney Duever has shot some important free throws in her three years on Westlake’s girls varsity basketball team, but none meant more than the ones the junior took in a quiet gym before teammates and friends.

Because for each ball that ripped through the net, another kid at Dell Childrens Medical Center smiled. Another laughed. Another knew that folks of all ages care.

And that, said Duever, meant more than another point on the scoreboard.

“Its good to know that there’s more things in life than basketball,” Duever said. “We’re not just athletes who just care about sports. We care about people, we care about the community.”

The girls – from the seniors to the freshmen – cared enough to organize a successful fundraiser for the Dell Childrens Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas. Duever and her teammates, most of whom are active in the campus Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, raised $800 for the foundation through a simple but effective means: one week, 100 free throws, 20 cents per basket.

But there’s nothing simple about a student-athlete at Westlake finding any free time. The dual demands of academics and athletics forms an undeniable void of time. Practices stretch for hours after school, road trips often eat up weekends, and study hall forms in the back of a bus or on a seat in the bleachers.

Still, the girls hit the streets – and plenty of keys on their phones – to find sponsors for the fundraiser. They needed no teachers nor parents nor coaches to organize the event; the girls did it themselves.  

“And I think that the kids (in the hospital) can appreciate that,” Duever said. “They can see that we did this ourselves. I think that it shows kids just like them care, not just adults.”