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Ashley Robinson was enjoying a unique off-season experience here in Seattle. After spending the first three months of the winter playing in Russia, Robinson came to Seattle to serve as the face of the Storm in the community during February and March.
 Robinson's March calendar. |
"I usually don't do three or four appearances a week; I usually do one," Robinson explained. "It's cool, because I feel like the more we get out there, the better exposure for the team. It's always nice for the team to have somebody that people can relate to. With the WNBA being the way it is right now, probably every player in the WNBA, some person can relate to us in some way besides just basketball. It can be a little girl out there right now who can relate to me. That makes me kinda happy to be out here, getting to meet everyone and show them who I am."
The crash course in the Seattle community allowed Robinson, a post who joined the Storm in a midseason trade with the Chicago Sky last summer, to get to know the area better. What she found was a very supportive community.
"Everybody's been so welcoming, so nice," she said. "Everybody's familiar with the Storm; sometimes you go into a situation where they know nothing about what you're presenting, who we work for, what we do, who we play for. It's been real fun. Everybody's been so nice to me. Every event has been a good time. I'm really liking the Seattle people and they're really embracing me."
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"Even if you don't see the spark, you think maybe later in life they may understand," said Robinson. "It's always the tall, skinny, lanky little girls that I'm like, 'One day, she may be me. Maybe it will give her some type of light and help guide her to go the right way.' "
"It was definitely a benefit having Ashley here in Seattle so early," said Dallas Pride, the Storm's community programs coordinator. "We do our best to keep the Storm on everyone’s mind all year round and it makes our job even easier when there’s a player here that folks can talk to and interact with. Ashley continues to bring new fans to the WNBA. We're fortunate to have such an active ambassador for this sport."
As busy as her schedule was in the community, Robinson's time in Seattle this off-season was productive on the court as well. She worked out daily with Storm Player Development Specialist Talvin Skinner, a former Sonics player who has helped the Storm coaching staff since 
Anne Donovan came to Seattle. The team's new strength and conditioning coach, Ryan Hite, also put Robinson to work in the weight room.
"What I got out of working with Talvin is a lot of confidence," said Robinson. "There's no pressure working out with him. He doesn’t put pressure on you, he's not trying to tire you out, he's not trying to get up 1,000 shots. He's working on what you need to work on and going at whatever pace you need to go at."
As compared to playing overseas, working out individually with Skinner gave Robinson much more time to focus on developing her individual skills. In particular, Robinson was looking to grow her offensive game to become more of a scoring threat.
Last season, Robinson averaged 1.4 points per game, shooting 33.3% from the field. To be able to take advantage of her length, shot-blocking and rebounding ability, Robinson has to be able to score enough to keep defenses honest. That starts with confidence.
"Ashley's having a great training camp and she's getting better every day," said Donovan. "Talvin did a lot of individual work with her, but more than anything, it's the mental training for Ashley not to get down on herself, to finish plays, to make a mistake and move on. As much as Talvin was working with her, we were also working with her mentally to keep her confidence high. I think we're starting to see some of that. Ashley wants to have a bigger role off our bench and she's well on her way."
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"I just can tell that my body feels physically better and I'm more confident," she said. "Working with Talvin really, really helped just by giving me confidence and working on the skills that I had lacked working on in previous years. I can really tell I was in the gym. Working with Talvin and Ryan really helped out.
"I thought it was good to get out in the community. When you see the little kids' faces and how happy they are to see you and girls have dreams of being WNBA players, that's what it's all about. We give them a dream that maybe our parents didn't have. Being out in the community was really good for me because I love people and I love being here, but you're doing it for the little kids, so they can have a dream to play in the WNBA."
Ashley in the Community
 Robinson with a young fan during an assembly at Seattle's African-American Academy. Terrence Vaccaro/NBAE/Getty
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