AUBURN – When Cindy Blodgett was a first-grader, she was told she couldn’t play basketball.

There were no girls on the Police Athletic Team in her hometown of Clinton, but she and her father asked: Could she play?

“I was holding onto my dad’s hand. A gentleman who I’m not going to name came to my dad and said, ‘Absolutely not. She’s too small,'” the basketball star turned University of Maine coach told a crowd attending the 12th Annual Steak and Burger Dinner at the Boys and Girls Club on Wednesday night.

“I was absolutely crushed,” Blodgett said. “I went home. I cried. My dad told me, ‘I will build you a basketball hoop. You can play every single day from this day forward.'”

His message to her was: “don’t take no for an answer,” Blodgett said.

Every day she practiced on the hoop her father made. The next year she made the team.

She shared her story to show youngsters that when they come to a roadblock, they can decide something is too difficult “or take the other road, a little less traveled, and do something that you love.”

Blodgett said she was fortunate to have supportive parents who drove her to practices and bought her countless pairs of sneakers. “You reach success not by yourself.”

She challenged girls and boys to start thinking about what they liked.

“Think about college. Whether you go to college, you need to know you have the opportunity.”

Blodgett said she was the first in her family to go to college. “It makes me not a bit better,” but it opened doors for her.

Blodgett went on to become one of Maine’s best-known high school basketball stars, taking Lawrence High School to state championships. As a student at the University of Maine, she was a standout who broke 20 school records.

After playing in the Women’s National Basketball Association, Blodgett became a coach. She recently finished her first season as head coach at UMaine.

In the past year her team won only seven games. “It was a tough season,” Blodgett said. She didn’t offer a prediction, but said her team was growing. “I expect more victories. My message to them is: We need to get better.”

Success in anything takes support from others and a willingness to work, she said. When she recruits players, she looks for those who want to stay after practice.

The annual Boys and Girls Club dinner is held to raise both money and youth aspirations, said Past President Jim Costello Jr.

“We show the kids mentors who tell them what it takes to get there,” he said. Money raised by the event helps provide youngsters a safe place to go after school, Costello said. “Some kids tell you stories that they don’t have anyone at their house until 10 at night.”

The club offers activities such as help with school work, organized sports, and arts and crafts every day for 60 to 75 youngsters, Costello said.

Blodgett told youngsters they were lucky to have a Boys and Girls Club. She urged them to appreciate the “opportunity you have, and continue to say ‘thank you.'”