Stephen Curry surprises hundreds of Bay Area girls at Chase Center event

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- At ABC7 News building a better Bay Area means a lot of things-- including inspiring our youngest community members to dream big and be bold. That was the message Wednesday, at the newly opened Chase Center, where hundreds of young women were treated to a celebrity guest, at a special "Sweatworking" event with the theme: 'Girls' Equity & Equality + Financial Health'.

The afternoon started with a talk about credit scores.

"Y'all need to learn how to keep a 700 plus," exclaimed a speaker from the Chase team, who gave a quick lesson on financial literacy to the group of young Bay Area women.

But the conversation turned to screams and cheers, when motivational coach, Angela Davis, introduced the surprise guest-- Warriors superstar, Stephen Curry.

"You don't need a man or authority to tell you what's okay to go after or what's okay for you to do," said Curry, who added, "You can do it on your own by being bold, courageous, having a vision, having a plan of attack of how you're going to do it."

Curry helped the girls through a workout, that came with a boost of endorphins and joy....

"That was very exciting," said seventh-grader, Arianna Ramirez-Zalder, with a grin.

"I really love basketball, and he's just one of my favorite role models of all time," said sixth-grade student, Samantha Obot, from Alameda.

"I was like oh my gosh, it's my idol! It was amazing for me," said Raquel Williams, about Curry's visit.

Williams is a junior at Alameda High School and plays on the school's varsity basketball team.

"I think it's so amazing how he wants to empower as many people as possible and be as inclusive as possible."

When asked what she learned at the event, Williams responded, "no matter what you want, just be a boss at it, as Steph Curry said!"

All three young women are members of the non-profit, Girls Inc.

Kate Larsen: What do you tell your own daughters as they start the school year and start to grow up a bit?

Stephen Curry: "It's always just about building self-confidence and them being comfortable with who they are, the reason they're on this earth. Obviously, at seven-years-old, that might be a tough concept to understand, but you can never start too early, planting that seed about what truly special individuals they all can be."

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