“Something in the water?” is the question asked in the 2012 U.S. Olympics Women’s Basketball Team Media Guide regarding Middle Village-based Christ the King High School.
Many are likely wondering the same thing, as the recent news broke last week that two of the school’s graduates will be joining Team USA as they go for the gold at this summer’s Olympic Games in London.
Tina Charles and Sue Bird, two Christ the King alumni, were named to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team recently.
With that news, the school holds the distinction of having three of its former students being chosen to represent the U.S. in the international sporting event this summer. The school’s last Olympian was former WNBA superstar Chamique Holdsclaw, who won gold with Team USA in the Sydney 2000 games.
The latest pair of Christ the King grads that have earned the right to be called Olympians—earning the Middle Village school the distinction of producing more Olympians for Team USA’s Women’s Basketball team than any other school in the country—boast impressive accolades.
Charles, a Jamaica native who plays center for the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA, flourished as a standout at Christ the King, where she amassed 1,750 points, 1,224 rebounds, 440 assists and 432 blocked shots in three varsity seasons en route to leading her team, the Royals, to back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006, a pair of USA Today No. 1 final national rankings, and an undefeated 57-0 record over two years.
A member of the school’s Class of 2006, Charles was also named the 2006 National High School Player of the Year by USA Today, McDonald’s, Parade Magazine, Gatorade and SI.com. This will mark Charles’ first Olympic appearance.
Charles seamlessly flowed into college hoops, where she led the UConn Huskies to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2009 and 2010 before being drafted by the Sun as the No. 1 draft pick in the 2010 WNBA draft; Charles ended up winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award and made her first All-Star appearance in 2011.
For Bird, the London games will mark her third straight Olympic appearance. Bird, who graduated from Christ the King in 1998, was born in Syosset but transferred to Christ the King during her high school years for more competition.
Her globe-trotting basketball career, which has earned her a seemingly endless amount of accolades, started in Christ the King, where she earned the Most Valuable Player award of the 1998 New York state tournament, and led the Royals to a 27-0 record and the USA Today national crown.
But her legendary career was only beginning, winning 2 NCAA titles with the Huskies before signing with the Seattle Storm in 2002, where she won 2 WNBA titles, netted 7 All-Star appearances and was voted by the fans last year as one of the Top 15 players in the league’s 14-year history.
The last rendition of the Summer Games, held in 2008 in Beijing, China, drew 214 million viewers across the United States, which set the record as the most viewed event in television history.
By Jean-Paul Salamanca
jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com
