By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE – The Arizona State women's basketball program is engaged in so many community events and charitable activities that coach Charli Turner Thorne admits sometimes the team is hard-pressed for time to sustain them all.
Last season when the program launched Keep The Beat, an awareness campaign designed to help people of all ages gain a better understanding of what it means to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, Turner Thorne vowed to stick with it.
"I almost felt guilty for not thinking of it on my own," said Turner Thorne, who was approached by officials from the American Heart Association. "With all the ways it has touched our program, and me personally, I knew this was something we needed to keep doing.
"I want it to be a platform for our whole community, but at times as a women's issue. It is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States and often it's silent. Don't wait until it's too late. Educate yourself, especially women because we don't necessarily exhibit the same symptoms -- or any symptoms."
The second annual Keep The Beat game will take place on Sunday, when the Sun Devils host San Jose State at 2 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Staff will throw out Keep The Beat T-shirts at halftime, all home games this season will include fourth-quarter heart checks, the team is continuing an aggressive social media campaign and the players even recorded a video in which they rewrote the lyrics to the song "Cups" (You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone) from the movie "Pitch Perfect."
The American Heart Association, United Blood Services, the ASU College of Health Solutions and the ASU College of Nursing and Health Innovation will all be conducting screenings. There will also be a food tasting event prior to the game.
"The fun thing about this year's event is it really feels like an ASU event, not a women's basketball event," Turner Thorne said. "A lot of our coaches and administrators have helped out by recorded videos like Bobby Hurley, Michael Crow, Ray Anderson, Tracy Smith, Missy Farr-Kaye."
The program is also part of a campus-wide effort for awareness that encourages heart screenings, cholesterol checks and general awareness.
"The whole focus on well being and health is something the university is really embracing," said professor Teri Pipe, the Chief Well-Being Officer and Dean at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. "Students have articulated well their yearning for a healthy environment, not only in physical activity, nutrition and sleep, but in the broader experience like financial health, sexual health, spiritual health. All the aspects of being a human are fair game."
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC, with more than 600,000 dying each year of heart disease, or one in every four American deaths. Diet and exercise are critical components in mitigating the risks, but the Turner Thorne and ASU officials also want their players and the community to be aware of stress-levels, sleep habits and mindfulness. ASU uses a yoga coach and a life coach and is part of a pilot program teaching meditation and helping manage sleep cycles.
The issue is close to Turner Thorne. It has been almost 10 years since former Sun Devil Aubree Johnson's brother, Jordan, died in his sleep at the age of 15 on a road trip with the team. He had a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Two years ago, Turner Thorne's husband, Will, suffered a heart attack and now has two stents.
Last year, former Sun Devil Becca Tobin collapsed after a preseason game in Seattle with the Phoenix Mercury and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator. Her heart had stopped for seven minutes.
"Charli and the basketball program have always done a great job of overcoming adversity and turning it into something positive," said Johnson, who is married with two kids (expecting a third) and lives in Chandler. "Charli has had more than her fair share of experience with heart disease so to turn it around and raise awareness and get people to think about it is such an important thing to do."
Turner Thorne hopes the Sun Devils will make an impact.
We try in our program to keep things in perspective and we always tell our players there are things so much more important than basketball," she said. "Basketball is just a vehicle for us to make a difference, not just for student-athletes; for everyone.
"How we raise our kids, what we feed them, the lifestyles they live. These are all important. We create important habits for our youth that they carry into adulthood. It's how we eat, exercise and how we manage our stress levels. I want people to be aware what a massive issue heart disease is in our society and hopefully create healthy habits for longer happier lives."
Events prior to Sunday's #KeepTheBeat Game: Fans are invited to arrive at noon on Sunday for 'Taste of Tempe,' a free food-tasting event featuring heart healthy food that will take place in the arboretum outside Wells Fargo Arena. Then at 1 p.m. (one hour prior to the game) fans can make their way into Wells Fargo Arena for a Heart Health Expo that will offer various health screenings in addition to several organizations providing information about heart healthy living.
TEMPE – The Arizona State women's basketball program is engaged in so many community events and charitable activities that coach Charli Turner Thorne admits sometimes the team is hard-pressed for time to sustain them all.
Last season when the program launched Keep The Beat, an awareness campaign designed to help people of all ages gain a better understanding of what it means to live a heart-healthy lifestyle, Turner Thorne vowed to stick with it.
"I almost felt guilty for not thinking of it on my own," said Turner Thorne, who was approached by officials from the American Heart Association. "With all the ways it has touched our program, and me personally, I knew this was something we needed to keep doing.
"I want it to be a platform for our whole community, but at times as a women's issue. It is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States and often it's silent. Don't wait until it's too late. Educate yourself, especially women because we don't necessarily exhibit the same symptoms -- or any symptoms."
The second annual Keep The Beat game will take place on Sunday, when the Sun Devils host San Jose State at 2 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Staff will throw out Keep The Beat T-shirts at halftime, all home games this season will include fourth-quarter heart checks, the team is continuing an aggressive social media campaign and the players even recorded a video in which they rewrote the lyrics to the song "Cups" (You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone) from the movie "Pitch Perfect."
The American Heart Association, United Blood Services, the ASU College of Health Solutions and the ASU College of Nursing and Health Innovation will all be conducting screenings. There will also be a food tasting event prior to the game.
"The fun thing about this year's event is it really feels like an ASU event, not a women's basketball event," Turner Thorne said. "A lot of our coaches and administrators have helped out by recorded videos like Bobby Hurley, Michael Crow, Ray Anderson, Tracy Smith, Missy Farr-Kaye."
The program is also part of a campus-wide effort for awareness that encourages heart screenings, cholesterol checks and general awareness.
"The whole focus on well being and health is something the university is really embracing," said professor Teri Pipe, the Chief Well-Being Officer and Dean at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. "Students have articulated well their yearning for a healthy environment, not only in physical activity, nutrition and sleep, but in the broader experience like financial health, sexual health, spiritual health. All the aspects of being a human are fair game."
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC, with more than 600,000 dying each year of heart disease, or one in every four American deaths. Diet and exercise are critical components in mitigating the risks, but the Turner Thorne and ASU officials also want their players and the community to be aware of stress-levels, sleep habits and mindfulness. ASU uses a yoga coach and a life coach and is part of a pilot program teaching meditation and helping manage sleep cycles.
The issue is close to Turner Thorne. It has been almost 10 years since former Sun Devil Aubree Johnson's brother, Jordan, died in his sleep at the age of 15 on a road trip with the team. He had a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Two years ago, Turner Thorne's husband, Will, suffered a heart attack and now has two stents.
Last year, former Sun Devil Becca Tobin collapsed after a preseason game in Seattle with the Phoenix Mercury and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator. Her heart had stopped for seven minutes.
"Charli and the basketball program have always done a great job of overcoming adversity and turning it into something positive," said Johnson, who is married with two kids (expecting a third) and lives in Chandler. "Charli has had more than her fair share of experience with heart disease so to turn it around and raise awareness and get people to think about it is such an important thing to do."
Turner Thorne hopes the Sun Devils will make an impact.
We try in our program to keep things in perspective and we always tell our players there are things so much more important than basketball," she said. "Basketball is just a vehicle for us to make a difference, not just for student-athletes; for everyone.
"How we raise our kids, what we feed them, the lifestyles they live. These are all important. We create important habits for our youth that they carry into adulthood. It's how we eat, exercise and how we manage our stress levels. I want people to be aware what a massive issue heart disease is in our society and hopefully create healthy habits for longer happier lives."
Events prior to Sunday's #KeepTheBeat Game: Fans are invited to arrive at noon on Sunday for 'Taste of Tempe,' a free food-tasting event featuring heart healthy food that will take place in the arboretum outside Wells Fargo Arena. Then at 1 p.m. (one hour prior to the game) fans can make their way into Wells Fargo Arena for a Heart Health Expo that will offer various health screenings in addition to several organizations providing information about heart healthy living.