PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College women’s basketball players are heroes, mentors and friends in the eyes of several area young women.

Those who attended Peninsula home games last year may have wondered about the younger basketball players who lined up with the Peninsula women during the playing of the national anthem.

Those young women were part of an important outreach effort by the Pirates that has several of the Peninsula team members spending their weekends and nights working with the younger players and watching them play in their own games and tournaments.

The college players and younger players are known as the Pirate Pals.

The Peninsula program has its genesis in a similar program that Peninsula head coach Alison Crumb was involved in when she played for Port Angeles High School under then-coach Mike Knowles, who is now Crumb’s assistant coach at Peninsula College.

Knowles began a “Rider Pal” mentoring program that placed high school players in a mentor role with younger aspiring Roughriders basketball players, and the program was a success.

Now, both Crumb and Knowles are proud to see the Pirate Pals program reaching new heights.

According to Crumb, this year the Peninsula women’s team is taking Pirate Pals to a higher level.

Just after the Pirates had their first preseason meeting in September and after being on campus for only 24 hours, the Pirates put on a free basketball camp for their Pirate Pals.

The college players ran the entire camp and worked with the girls on skill-building and coached them in a 3-on-3 tournament.

After the camp, the older and younger players ate pizza together and got to know each other a little better.

According to Crumb, this is just the beginning.

“Every week during the coming year, the Pirates will be working with their pals after practice and on weekends to give back to the community and to inspire young basketball players that are like themselves when they were younger,” Crumb said.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our athletes to mentor young players who idolize them. Our Pirate women step on the floor and these young girls follow everything they do.

“With that comes great responsibility, and it helps our players become better leaders, better citizens and better basketball players.”

And Crumb has made sure that the parents of the Pirate Pals know that Pirates are truly committed.

“When I was introducing the PC players to the Pirate Pals and their parents, I told them we are here for them and support our team in putting in all this extra time to help the Pals better their craft,” Crumb said.

“Afterwards, a parent came up to me and said how much it means to these girls that we are doing this, and that they, too, are here for us and whatever we need.

“That is what it’s all about. It’s about a partnership, and our program believes it’s important.”

Crumb added that throughout the preseason when the Pirates are training, often twice a day, “three days a week, the Pirate Pals will be on campus working with our student-athletes.”

“Thanks to Peninsula assistant coaches Mike Knowles and Danika Johnson, Olympic Avalanche youth coach Joe Marvelle, and the Pirate program, our team has expanded, and we’re excited for our Pirate Pals and their families to be a part of our Pirate family,” Crumb said.

To see the Pirates and the Pirate Pals working together, visit www.tinyurl.com/pdnPiratePals.