FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
"It was shock in awe. It was shock and awe," Joseph Perry, executive director of Boys2men/ Girls2Women, said.
Perry was supposed to be finishing up last-minute details for the "Pinnacle Empowerment Summit" scheduled for this Saturday.
"It was a three part summit. Part one was a basketball clinic. Part two was a six-hour workshop. And part three was a gala," Perry said.
The goal was to inspire young women to reach higher than they think they can.
"It was to empower, motivate and train young student-athletes, leaning toward girls but boys were included, on how to look beyond just being a basketball player or a football player and to reach beyond that and to reach your pinnacle, because you're more than just an athlete," Perry said.
About 300 middle-school and high-school women-athletes were expected at the event, to take place at Fresno State's south gym.
But last Friday, six days before the summit, the organization received a disheartening email from Fresno State.
"We're sorry we just discovered it's an NCAA violation. We're sorry Mr. Perry, but we can't do it here," Perry said, repeating what he was told.
In the email, Fresno State officials say: "Due to NCAA bylaws, non-institutional camps/clinics that include prospective student-athletes may only use institutional facilities during the months of June, July and August."
"It was very disappointing, we were heartbroken, because this was something we were doing for the young ladies of Fresno," Nancy Cota, who works with the organization, said.
Summit organizers say a rule is a rule and they understand that.
They just wish they had been told sooner.
"The way it was funded was by sponsors. Sponsors were sending in their sponsorships. So we've had to return it. We have to ask them can we wait and do this another time. We had printed material. We were out hundreds of dollars of printed materials," Cota said.
The organization is now stuck with a bunch of tickets it can't use.
But organizers say, despite being out the money, they'll reschedule the summit.
And they still want to hold it at Fresno State.
"We want these junior high-school girls and these high school girls to experience college life. So Fresno State is where we want to go for the purpose of academic excellence," Perry said.
KMPH did speak with officials at Fresno State about the incident. They told us they would give us an official statement from the school, but as of now, we're still waiting to get it.
