By Terra Avilla
When Anna Townsend asked if she could guest write my “Why We Love This Place Wednesday” piece, it was an easy answer: heck yes.
This series has always been about real people and real moments that make this place worth showing up for.
So for this week, I’m stepping out of the way and handing it over to Anna. What follows is her take on why this place matters, and I’m excited for you to see it through her eyes.
Why We Love This Place Wednesday by Anna Townsend
Incredible Lassen County Kids! That’s it. That is 100% why I love this place. Hi there, my name is Anna Townsend and thank you for having me as your guest writer this week.
Back to the good stuff. Our Kids, Our future… and I’m here to tell you about a specific group of youngsters who have taken matters into their own hands, against all odds, to ensure they have a summer filled with engagement, physical activity, healthy competition and just down-right fun!
It all began with an idea from a kid whose heart and passion lies within the game of Basketball. Danny Contreras, and some of his brothers in the game, found themselves having an on-going “what if” discussion during evening pick-up games at SIR open-gyms this past spring.
What if we built our own league? What if we recruited Team Captains as “coaches”? What if we found our own courts, ran our own clocks, got our own stat books, built our own teams and just ran it? What if we created an account to reach as many Lassen County kids as we could and held an actual draft? What if we “hired” our own clock runners, water boys, media staff, stat keepers and refs? What if we took this dream, this idea, and this drive into our own hands and just made it happen?
With a few statements of validation from his “right hand man” Randy Ridgebear, and encouragement from his peers, Danny was off and running to make the Susanville Basketball Association a reality. The first-of-its-kind, completely youth-volunteer led outdoor basketball league.
These kids put their heads of creativity, inspiration and grit together to face every challenge and charge every step of development necessary to bring it to life. No parents. No Authorities. No strict rules from local, state or federal guidelines. And… No Funding. Just a gritty grassroots group of young entrepreneurs looking to create an opportunity for as many kids as possible to have fun this summer.
Danny states “I wanted to create something that people could be excited for every week… Players checking standings, talking about match-ups, celebrating big performances and creating memories they’ll remember for years.”
I could cry. In my profession, I spend most of my waking hours working to support students in having the best chance at healthy and rich childhood experiences. For many years I have worked on projects and alongside partners who do the deep work of evaluating communities and assessing the needs, disparities, hardships, and struggles of our rural area.
As with many rural areas, access to extensive healthy recreational opportunities has been a long-standing area of deficiency for our youth. This leaves many to turn to substances, risky-behavior, and other potentially harmful means of recreation to occupy their time.
While our community is extremely rich in youth sports opportunities, they are often accompanied by high costs for registration, travel, equipment and the need for parent support/involvement.
Not all youth have these options in place to participate and as teens get older the numbers often dwindle down single team rosters. We have no arcade, no bowling alley, no recreation centers, no skating rink, not even a mall where kids can gather and engage with each other. But we have great kids who aren’t batting an eye at where we are in lack. Instead, they have taken their interests to the next level and are now weeks into their first SBA Season.
Efforts began in early May, with leadership development to recruit Team Captains and begin bolstering media outreach to youth in Lassen County. Players began making draft highlight videos, submitting their interest to declare for the draft and posting the best of their skills and talents. Players range from 8th graders to recently graduated students up to 19 years old. Girls were also invited to participate however none showed interest during the draft and to date there aren’t currently on any team rosters.
The Draft was run virtually on May 19th, at the host home of Adriana and Ben Ingwerson (thank you shout out to them for supporting the league dream). In attendance were the League Leaders and Captains- Danny Contreras, Brody Wheeler, Carter Huber, Owen Eptison, Krush Costello, Franco Gonzalez, Brayden Ingwerson, and Brady Nystrom as well as commentators Maddox McIntire, James, and Jace Rodriguez.
These 8 Player/Captains drafted 56 players in a snake draft to create an even playing field of 64 players, plus free agents for teams to pick up. Players came forward from a wide range of locations including Westwood, Chester, Portola, Herlong, Janesville and Susanville areas. Team names include The Takeover, The Unknowns, KoolAid Jammers, Full Court Phantoms, Drop Off Academy, DeadEye Academy, Lob Mob, and Rez Rockets. Boom, SBA had a strong heartbeat from the beginning but the draft gave it life!
Yesterday, I attended some games with my camera in hand, a sight many of the youth in attendance have come to expect at games and key moments. I was thanked for being there which relieved all my anxiety of being an millenial-frontrunner old person intruding on a youth organized event.
I watched in awe of all that I witnessed unfold over the past two months to bring me to this moment. I counted. 60+ kids were there, laughing, playing, dancing, snacking, drinking Dr. Pepper, watching and playing basketball. Cases of water were provided for players, other kids were running clocks, keeping stats, taking film and photos, and reffing games. There were next to no phones out, no vaping, drinking, smoking or other delinquent behaviors taking place.
The youth developed a code to hold each other accountable and reference in order to create a group understanding of expectations they will abide by. The code is simple: Compete Hard. Respect Everyone. Stay Accountable. Represent yourself with Character. Leave the Game Better than you Found It. Play with Intensity and Respect. During my visit to the court, I overheard kids holding each other accountable to “keep to the code” to redirect foul language, controlling emotions and setting expectations of spectators so games could run smooth, efficient and fair.
The league dream is alive and thriving with games running throughout the week, leaderboards and player highlights updated daily, media highlights and features posted for continuous engagement, and everyone doing their part to make summer fun through the love of basketball.
While adult support is always a plus, these youth have proven that they are more than capable of creating something amazing without all the hangups of adult policing or getting caught up in “the process” that often halts or delays progress. Danny specifically thanks the support, guidance, and helpful considerations from his mom that helped to make it all possible. Please join me in acknowledging kids from a distance so they can keep doing the great things that help us to LOVE this incredible place we get to call HOME!
