Despite challenges, military brats should aim high in game of life

However challenging their lives might be, military brats should aim high, according to Ketia Swanier (pronounced swan-yea), who while growing up seldom had both of her parents at home. Ketia’s mother, Rosie, and her father, Cornell, both were Army First Sergeants. Ketia now plays for the Women’s National Basketball Association. She visited Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday and Friday with Keela Carr to speak with military brats at Smith Middle School and a meet and greet at the Clear Creek Main Exchange and Saturday for her 1st annual basketball classic at Bronco Youth Center.

While she was going to school at Fort Polk, La., and then at Fort Hood, one parent or the other was deployed, first to Bosnia, Saudi Arabia and then Iraq, she said.

Their absence didn’t stop Ketia from having a stellar career in basketball or from giving back to military children facing similar challenges today.

“I was born a military brat; so I experienced what these kids are going through…a lot more people are being deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so I feel like it’s worse,” Ketia said, before the basketball tournament sponsored by her non-pofit organization, the Ketia4Kidz Foundation (www.ketia4kidz.org), and the Child, Youth and School Services.

After playing point guard for the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2008 (she graduated the year before they swept everyone to win the women’s basketball NCAA title), she became a first-round draft pick in the WNBA, where she plays for the Connecticut Sun.

The mission of Ketia4Kidz is “to motivate children of active-duty military personnel to achieve their dreams and goals by promoting excellence in academics and sports related programs,” according to its Web site.

“I just wanted to give back to the military kids and show them as an example they can do anything they put their minds to do,” Ketia said.

Despite their frequent absence, her parents motivated her most. Both were with her Saturday.

Rosie’s message for parents was, “As a mom, always be there to support them and push them. Never tell them they can’t do it. Always encourage them…”

Her mother said Ketia began playing basketball at Fort Polk, when she was six years old. That year they were stationed at Fort Hood, where they remained until Ketia was nine.

“Hood was good;” Rosie said. “I enjoyed the community because it was so much of a Family-oriented thing.”

Just five-feet six-inches tall, Ketia didn’t let her size stop her, either.

“Being small, you’re quick; that’s a big strength so I try to use that to my advantage,” she said.

Her advice to children now is, “Stay in school; make good grades. No matter what happens you’ll have that knowledge. Nobody can take that away from you.”

After leaving Fort Hood, Ketia will get ready for the Sun’s training camp May 17. She also looks forward to working more with Keela Carr, who also accompanied her Saturday.

After walking last summer from Barstow, Ca., to Arlington National Cemetery, where a wreath was placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Carr founded the 1,000 Thanks organization.

“The primary message has always been to show gratitude for veterans and to support troops,” Carr said.

On Memorial Day she will repeat her journey, visiting veterans hospitals and military installations from Barstow to Arlington. This time, she’ll have a team that includes a trainer and three drivers.

Again, she’ll miss Fort Hood.

“That’s another reason I wanted to come with Ketia today,” she added.

Carr, an athletic trainer who lives in Central Florida, met Ketia through a friend.

The difference between their organizations, she said, is, “With Ketia4Kidz we focus on the children of military Families. A lot of the time we focus on the grownups and leave the kids by the wayside.

“So, partnering with Ketia,” she added, “I’ll be letting the kids know they have a resource, supporting them.”

The classic included games between players representing the Copperas Cove Crusaders and military kids of the Ellison High School Scorpions, comprised of junior varsity and varsity teams from both schools.

After leading 23-11 at halftime, the Scorpions JV team lost in overtime, 43-38.

Coach Lonzo Cobaris blamed the Scorpions’ loss on “No teamwork. We had a big lead and gave it up because it was all about me; they didn’t play together as a team.

Crusaders coach Ken Hagger attributed the win to “A little pep talk (at halftime) and hustle. The guys just pulled it out. We changed over to a man-to-man (defense) and that pressure made the difference.”

Between the JV and varsity basketball games, a three-point shooting contest and dunking contest were held. Romando Garcia, a Copperas Cove high school student, hit six of 12 attempts to win the three-point shoot out. Nagee Adams, a Copperas Cove sophomore won the slam dunk contest. In the varsity game, the Scorpions led 31-17 at halftime and won 59-38.

Ketia4Kidz Help Future Leaders Experience Their Dreams

Ketia Swanier visited Faith Middle School in Fort Benning, Georgia today to present 15 students of the National Junior Honor Society a $1,000 check to help them fulfill their dreams. In April, they will embark on a three-day journey to Washington D.C. to experience and to explore the city where our nation’s leadership resides and works. The 15 selected students have demonstrated scholarship with their grades, excellence with their character and a willingness to serve their school and community. These students have also been selected to represent Faith Middle School in the ongoing partnership announced by Ketia on January 12, 2009 with Pass Christian Middle School of Pass Christian, Mississippi. The selected students from each school will share their challenges with each other via technology, particularly what it is like to have parents frequently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The selected students from Pass Christian Middle School will have the opportunity to share their experiences of living through Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, the Ketia4Kidz Foundation purchased and gifted Toastmaster International leadership kits and will provide lunch for 15 selected youths of the Fort Benning Youth Services Program. The Youth Services Program will host a Teen Leadership Course for eight weeks beginning April 4, 2009. The course will help the youths become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The selected youth participants will practice and learn public speaking skills by filling a role in a mock meeting, ranging from giving a prepared or an impromptu speech to serving as a grammarian.

Inspiration for the New Year: Leighton Parker, 11, celebrates through giving

Leighton Parker of Lagrange, Georgia recently celebrated turning 11 in a big way, but not with ponies, helicopter rides, or even a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

Upon learning more about the Ketia 4 Kidz Foundation and its goals to help military children in need,

Leighton made a decision during her party planning that was anything but typical of a young lady her age.

She asked her party guests to donate to the Ketia4Kidz Foundation instead of bringing her gifts. When asked why she decided to support Ketia4Kidz instead of receiving new toys and clothes for her birthday, she responded, “My desire to help military kids was an honor and a very unselfish act.”

Not only was Leighton thrilled and enthused to contribute to Ketia 4 Kidz’s causes, but so were her friends. She explained that her guests and friends “thought it was great” that she chose to collect donations and that they were excited as she was to contribute.

Thank you to Leighton Parker and her friends for their generous contributions. Their act of pure generosity and selflessness is a shining example for all of us as we begin the New Year, and we are grateful for their dedication to and interest in Ketia 4 Kidz.

Columbus High’s Swanier returns to retire jersey

Before Ketia Swanier played her first game for Connecticut, her AAU coach Mike Green told reporters she was a “wizard with the ball.”

Before she was chosen in the first round of the 2008 WNBA draft, former Orlando coach Carolyn Peck told ESPN that Swanier would be “added value to any team.”

But long before the media took any notice — when Swanier was in middle school — former Columbus High coach Ashley Powell said she saw those same things in the young point guard.

“I saw her play in eighth grade, and I knew I wanted to coach her at Columbus,” Powell said.

“Just watching her, I knew she was a smart, talented player and she would do good things on the court.”

Swanier started four years at Columbus under Powell, leading the Blue Devils to the 2004 state title game before going on to play for UConn and the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun.

In November, Swanier signed with Rybnik, a team based out of Rybnik, Poland, in the country’s PLKK league.

Swanier is taking a break from pro basketball this week, traveling more than 5,000 miles back to Columbus, where the Blue Devils will retire her No. 21 jersey today before the start of a game against Hardaway.

“It’s always a big accomplishment to have your jersey retired,” Swanier said. “I’ve been trying to find time to do it the last couple years, and I’m very glad it’s finally worked out to where I can come back and do it.”

Play with the boys

Swanier was more than just the best player on the girls team during her tenure at Columbus High. She may have been the best player period, Columbus boys coach Larry Ferrell said.

“I really wish she could have played with the boys team,” Ferrell said. “She was good enough, and I could have used her.”

Swanier made a habit out of warming up against the boys, according to Powell, and typically had something to teach everyone on the court.

Once the game started, her ball-handling skills and shooting were only outshined by her ability to make it from baseline to baseline in seconds.

“Ketia would grab a rebound and then be down the court before anyone else on either team,” Powell said. “She was just so fast it was hard to stop her.”

Swanier led the Blue Devils through the state playoffs and into the 2004 finals against St. Pius. There, Swanier fouled out in the final minutes, and the Blue Devils watched their thin lead evaporate in a heartbreaking loss. The previous November, Swanier had signed with UConn, so she knew her playing days were not over yet.

Powell said there was little doubt among anyone who saw Swanier play that the point guard would go on to the next level.

“Coaches would sit around and say, ‘Where do you think she’s going to go to college,’ ” Powell said. “We never doubted she would play somewhere.”

Fans and coaches hardly were the only ones to notice her high school performances. Swanier was named the Georgia AAAA Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and made the all-state first-team roster 2002-04.

Connecticut Sun: Swanier reaches out to fellow ‘Army brats’

By MATT STOUT
mstout@norwichbulletin.com
Posted Dec 04, 2008 @ 11:38 PM

Even now, when Ketia Swanier thinks back to her childhood, rarely both parents are involved. Grocery store trips in Europe with her mother. Getting ready for school as her father does her hair. Waiting for one to return home — then hoping the other doesn’t have to leave.

Bosnia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq weren’t places in the news for Swanier. She hoped to see them on the caller ID.

“I remember breaking down by myself because I didn’t really ever speak to my father” while he was deployed in Iraq, Swanier said. Her mother, Rosie, and father, Cornell, were both First Sergeants in the Army, now retired. “Two years. … I didn’t know if I would ever see my dad again. He was there when the war started.”

“It’s tough,” Cornell said. “And she understands that.”

The former UConn star is helping more people to.

Home now for three days to attend a ceremony at her alma mater, Columbus (Ga.) High School — which is retiring her No. 21 high school jersey — Swanier, who finished her first season with the Connecticut Sun in September, continues to promote her new foundation, Ketia 4 Kidz.

Launched in late August, the organization’s goal is “to motivate children of active duty military personnel to achieve their dreams and goals by promoting excellence in academics and sports related programs,” according to its mission statement.

Through fund-raisers and appearances, Swanier’s hope is to assist children in military installments with opportunities she didn’t have growing up on different bases and in different countries. More so, she wants to give them hope.

“I think the greatest thing about it is I’m a living example of it,” Swanier said by phone Thursday night. “I’m pretty sure being an Army brat now, or even having one parent, is really hard, harder than when I was because of the war going on. I just want to let these kids know that you can still do and achieve anything you want to do.

“People always say, ‘Support the troops, support the troops,’” she added. “Well, a lot of people forget about the children.”

Swanier’s organization is growing rapidly. She visited wounded soldiers and their families at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., in early November, and has joined Keela Carr and The Journey of a Thousand Thanks campaign, a walk across the country in support of the troops.

Spanning more than two-and-a-half months this May, Carr will trek from California to D.C., stopping at military installments to help promote both the National Veterans Homeless Support Organization and Ketia 4 Kidz.

“There will be an RV behind her and it will have my logo on the RV,” Swanier said. “If I definitely get a chance to meet up with her somewhere, I’m definitely going to do it.”

Carr first contacted Swanier through e-mail, a sign of her foundation’s growth. Since the Web site (ketia4kidz.org) launched last month, it’s received roughly 50,000 hits, her father said.

“In four days, she’s had almost 3,000,” added Cornell, one of approximately 10 family members and friends who help Ketia with the organization. In the spring, family members in Mississippi will hold a fund-raiser. “There are people out there who know about it.”

For the moment, Swanier hasn’t scheduled as many appearances as she would have liked. She’ll return to Poland after the weekend to continue starting for Rybnik, which also features WNBA players LaTangela Atkinson and Kasha Terry. She’ll likely be there until March or April in the same country her mother was stationed in while Ketia was 10 years old.

“You still have a limited number of channels,” Ketia joked. “I don’t remember a whole, whole lot but it was easier because I was with my parents. Now I’m on my own.”

But she’s working to ensure no Army brats are.

A Patriotic Partnership - Saying Thanks across Our Country - A Thousand Times Over - Believe in your dreams!

On May 26, 2008 after months of planning what can only be described as a very grass roots event. I set out on foot on a 2,700 mile cross-country adventure departing from Ft. Irwin California and culminating near our nation’s Capitol on the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.



As I traveled, it was my privilege to meet, shake the hands of, and personally thank more than 1,000 veterans and individual members of our Armed Forces. In addition, I toured multiple military facilities across the country and had the honor of participating in a USO event at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.



At last, after 75 days of the greatest and most grueling adventure ever,

The Journey of a Thousand Thanks came to a quiet and triumphant end.



Now, with the first crossing ending in success, and bringing in more than 2000 media hits, funds for the Wounded Warrior Project and recognition and an award from the White Houses’ USA Freedom Corp office, the plans for 2009’s journey are well under way!



For 2009’s journey, we have partnered with the Ketia4Kidz Foundation and The National Veterans Homeless Support Organization as we cross the country to thank our troops, and proudly shine a light of support on the children of active duty military families as well as bring much needed assistance to many of our veterans who are in need.



With so many of our veterans, service personnel and their families in need of financial assistance and the staunch support and encouragement of their fellow countrymen, A Thousand Thanks, Ketia4Kidz and The National Veterans Homeless Support invites you to be apart of an event unlike any other as we salute the very best of our nation, one step at a time.





Our Route

The route will span some 2,000 plus miles with stops at military installations and some of the nation’s most beautiful cities.



We are hoping to stay visible and accessible, so that supporters across the country can not only follow us, but come out and join us as well.



Of course, we ask that you keep your eyes tuned to our official web site for any updates or changes to the route.





Our Team



A Thousand Thanks

A Thousand Thanks is the result of grand moment of inspiration and has become the catalyst project for bringing organizations and foundations together for a united cause.

A Thousand Thanks exists solely to inspire a spirit of service and gratitude from the American people to the American Service men and women.





Ketia4kidz Foundation

The Ketia4Kidz Foundation is the life long dream of Former UConn point guard and now professional basketball player for the WNBA Connecticut Sun, Ketia Swanier, a self-described “military brat” with national and international moves and both parents serving their country, Ms. Swanier knows very well the challenges that children of active duty families face. “I understand what these children are experiencing with us fighting two wars. Both of my parents deployed several times.”

It is this special knowledge that Ms. Swanier hopes to use as she and her foundation reach out to the children of our military. Ketia4Kidz will motivate these children to realize their dreams and achieve them through promoting excellence in academics and sports related programs.





National Veterans Homeless Support

The National Veterans Homeless Support is a labor of love for Vietnam veteran George Taylor. Mr. Taylor honorably served his country in the U.S Army’s 173rd Airborne Division. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Taylor has continued to serve his country as the executive director of the NVHS.org. Mr. Taylor and his organization have dedicated themselves to business of helping homeless veterans.



The NVHS has a network of social programs that include Post Traumatic Awareness and counseling, assistance with enrollment VA medical and mental services, as well as access to rehabilitation programs such as narcotics & alcoholics anonymous. It is Mr. Taylor’s mission to remind these men and women that they once wore the uniform of this great country.





The Mission







On May 26, 2009, I will again set out on foot acroos the country in a show of gratitude and support for those men and women who have worn, and those who still wear the uniform of this country.



From California to Our Nation’s Capitol, with stops at military installtions and cities along the way, I will walk to bring awarness to the challenges that our veterans and military children face .



Funds raised from this event will be donated to The National Veterans Homeless Support Organization and The Ketia4Kidz Foundation.





Get Involved



The Journey of a Thousand Thanks event is inviting corporations and foundations to become apart of this unique project through tax-deductable donations or sponsorship.



Sponsors will be recognized for their participation:



* With acknowledgement and a link on the official web site.
* National Exposure of company logo on event vehicle and apparel.
* In all press releases and correspondence with military installations





Individuals & Volunteers



We are very excited to welcome private citizens and those who would like to be involved as volunteers at our “event” cities to contact us info@athousandthanks.us with questions about how, when and where you can be involved.







Website : www.athousandthanks.us

Email: info@athousandthanks.us

Keela Carr: 404/663-6959



Website: www.ketia4kidz.org

Email: ketia4kidz@yahoo.com

Phone Number: 706-577-1731

“Fighting For Our Military Children”

The day I met Ketia in person over ten years ago remains lucid: pigtails, walking on her tip-toes with an unusual gait, and a crooked right pinky as she appeared in the gym doors. It was a surreal moment for an eleven-year-old: my parents had been writing to our local congressional representatives for months on behalf of Ketia’s father, Cornell, who was hoping to receive his next assignment in Georgia after an extended tenure in Warzburg, Germany with the United States Army. He wanted his daughter to play basketball for my father and the organization with which I had become involved at a young age: the Georgia Magic. To quote my father and my second father, our coach Mike Green, “We knew she was something special that day.” The rest is history.

From the age of 11 to 18, I spent every summer in ill-ventilated middle school gymnasiums with Ketia and our teammates, sometimes three practices per weekend to optimize our time together and save our parents the headache of driving several hours during the week. She played a large role in leading our team to 7 consecutive Georgia State AAU Championships, 7 consecutive National Sweet 16 appearances, 1 national title, and 1 national runner-up.

We shared in these successes, but more importantly we shared in certain heartbreaks together. Ketia’s father was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Iraq for multiple tours in the early stages of the United States’ Middle East conflicts. He missed game after game, national tournament after national tournament, and win after win during the crucial years of her career. Her mother, also a retired Army First Sergeant, spent ten months in Bosnia. Practically every year from sixth grade when I met her through high school, Ketia lived in a single-parent home or with relatives. Ketia continued to dream big despite the notable absence of her father and the stress his tours in Iraq inevitably created.

After a stellar career in high school where her jersey will be retired on December 5, four years as a student-athlete at the legendary University of Connecticut, and being selected as a first-round draft pick in the WNBA, Ketia has taken the initiative to support children in the same predicament that she long endured. In August, she officially formed the Ketia4Kidz Foundation to support and uplift the children of active duty military personnel through sports, education, and life skills programs. Within it first two months of operation, Ketia made appearances at Fort Benning, where her parents were stationed before their retirement, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to greet wounded veterans and their families. She has recently partnered with A Thousand Thanks to raise awareness on a national level of the challenges facing military children. Despite her many commitments as a professional athlete, she has elected to spend so much of her spare time to fulfill a dream of her own through fulfilling the needs of others. I was never graced with Ketia’s skill, speed, or natural instinct on the basketball court. I am not a professional athlete; I am a banker! I was honored to share the floor with Ketia and she graciously expresses the same gratitude to me. As all of us well know, our veterans, active duty personnel and their children have made and continue to make tremendous sacrifices on behalf of our country. I am proud to support Ketia as she works to lessen this burden and uplift our military children.

Tiffany
Georgia