Cruise Ship Settlement to Fund Girls Athletics

Restitution paid by a cruise ship line for causing an oil spill in Los Angeles Harbor will help expand girls basketball programs in Watts and Wilmington, Los Angeles City Atty. James Hahn said Tuesday.

Hahn presented a $20,000 check to the basketball programs run by a partnership between the Amateur Athletic Foundation and the Watts / Willowbrook and Wilmington Boys and Girls Clubs.

The Los Angeles Sparks women’s basketball team will support the program by conducting clinics at the two clubs.

The program, called “Jump Start,” is aimed at girls 12 to 14--the age group that is most likely to drop out of organized school sports.

The money was part of a $50,000 contribution the Holland America cruise line paid as part of its sentence for an oil spill in the harbor in March 1998.

The money will pay for coaching supplies, equipment, jerseys, transportation, referees and awards.