Basketball
The power of inspiration
Nikki Kemp, 17, was the only girl who turned up. She plays basketball for Tolleson Union High. Her friend Brandon Duffins told her about the league. His two nephews play on Solano’s team at Castro.
“Just whenever I get a chance to touch a ball, I take it,” she said. Kemp said she was inspired by how much basketball helped Solano in his life.
“If he didn’t let anything stand in his way, I shouldn’t, either,” she said.
Beside her, Duffins takes a hit off his asthma inhaler.
“Anybody can learn something from him. It’s not even only about basketball,” he said.
Tyrese Sutton was a student of Solano’s at Palm Lane. He’s 17 now.
“It’s fun,” he said. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. He thinks basketball will help him lose weight. He’s a good player, fast on the break.
“They underestimate me because I’m fat,” he said, grinning.
His mom, Mona Majors, watched from the bleachers.
“I liked the idea of this. It gives the older ones something to do so they’re not out there gang-banging and doing drugs,” she said.
She looked over at Solano and Martinez. “These are good people,” she said.
The power of possibility
Solano grinned as he watched two players, Malik Wallace and Isaiah Lopez, chatting at center court. They had never met before.
Martinez chatted with two brothers, sixth-grader Devaroun Watson and his brother, Denillean, a seventh-grader, who lit up at his words of praise.
Solano is thinking about the weeks to come. The speakers scheduled to come in. The idea that there is another middle school interested in hosting this same program.
“I say, ‘Anything is possible.’ Eddie made that true for me,” Solano said.
He was overwhelmed by the response to his story, the people who believed enough to donate to make this league happen.
“I’m just a small person. I thought, ‘People don’t care about people like me,’ ” he said. “I couldn’t believe how many people wanted to create something like this. I didn’t know what to do, but I know now that people care.”
Solano wants to do something for the kids in Martinez’s program. He and his wife will volunteer at the next rummage sale in October for sure.
But maybe he could teach the scholars about coding. He has two robots the kids could program on iPads. One of the boys Martinez mentors wants to be an engineer.
“They helped make my dream come true,” he said. “I don’t know how to repay that.”
The orange ball did all that.
The power of being there
“It was a good first night, Dave,” Martinez said.
“I was happy,” Solano said.
The two men say goodnight. They will see each other on Thursday, and then every Tuesday and Thursday through the end of May. Martinez has promised to help through the program’s first year.
There’s a barbecue on the weekend where Solano will grill carne asada and chicken, and then maybe they’ll shoot hoops.
“Thank you for coming out!” Solano said as the gym emptied.
“See you guys on Thursday!” Denillean Watson shouts.
“Bye, Coach,” Isaiah Lopez said. “You coming Thursday?” Solano asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be here,” Isaiah said. And then the other boys say it like an echo: “I’ll be there.”
“I’ll be there.”
“I’ll be there.” Reach Bland at karina.bland@ arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8614.