Hangin' with the UC Hoopahs

Shoe squeaks and basketball dribbles echo through the gym. The athletes are in workout gear, some in NBA apparel. Their heart rates increase as they run drills. The ball is passed to Chelsea Sterritt-Wren. She maneuvers around the much taller defense and takes a few steps toward the rim, shooting from mid-range. Swish! Another easy basket.

Sterritt-Wren, 18, may be the shortest and youngest player on the team, but her skill goes beyond height and handicap. She has autism but plays with as much heart as professional athletes—as do her teammates, who have special needs that range from developmental disabilities to physical limitations.

The 2011 Special Olympics basketball season is underway and Sterritt-Wrenn and the Union City Hoopahs will soon have a chance to claim another title at the annual Capon Classic Tournament. The regional event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 20, in Alameda.

The Hoopahs are Union City's  basketball team for the Northern California Special Olympics chapter. It's just one of many special needs sports teams in Union City. Most, if not all, of the Hoopahs also participate on the soccer, track and field, swimming and bowling teams.

They've been practicing every Saturday morning since the beginning of January inside the gym of the , formerly known as Barnard White Middle School, on Whipple Road.

Don Frazier, the Hoopahs’ head coach and a warehouse manager at in Union City, started helping when his now 22-year-old son, Donald, was 8 years old.

Frazier stepped in as head coach six years ago.

“I thought there was a lot of untapped potential,” said Frazier, who receives huge support from other parents.

Every Saturday, the co-ed Hoopahs squad, which includes 33 teenagers and adults, participates in warm-up drills such as jogging, stretching and dribbling. Then they separate into three teams based on skill.

The skills team is for 14 athletes who have vision problems, cannot run up and down the court, or have other limitations on their basketball skills.

Team 2 has nine athletes, and this will be the first time that it will compete in the Level 4 division. Each level represents the skills of teams throughout the league, similar to college basketball divisions. The lower the number of the level, the higher the skill set.

“It’s time,” Coach Frazier said. “They were dominating at Level 5.”

Team 2 has been undefeated for the past three years at Level 5.

Team 1 consists of 10 athletes who compete in high Level 4. They have a 4-2 record in the past six years.

Coaches paired with each team execute basketball drills, such as free throw shooting, guarding, lay-ups, passing and running plays.

Bob Fine, the Team 2 coach and a supervisor for San Mateo County's Collections Department, said the athletes are impressive and inspiring.

“[I] never saw a group of athletes who shake things off so easily,” Coach Fine said.

Cindy Lamm, assistant coach of Team 1 and an administrative manager at a Palo Alto law firm, shares similar feelings toward the Hoopahs.

“Honestly, I love watching our athletes compete,” Lamm said. “We can learn a lot from watching them.”

After the drills, Teams 1 and 2 play in a friendly match to apply what they have just practiced. This is the first time that the two teams have played a scrimmage match since Team 2's advancement to Level 4. Although no score was kept, the players were able to show off their skills. Team 2, with strong defense and a few fast breaks, gave Team 1 a challenge.

The scrimmages set the tone for tournaments.

Fine explains the team strategy the best: "Have fun."

“It doesn’t matter who wins,” Fine said.

Sterritt-Wren, a Team 1 player and one of the best shooters of the Hoopahs, thinks otherwise.

“I always think we’re gonna win,” said Sterritt-Wren, who has been on the team for six years.

During the six years he's been the Hoopahs’ head honcho, Frazier has led the team to victory in a majority of the tournaments.

“We’ve won more gold than not,” Frazier said. “It’s a very successful program.”

Each of the four volunteer coaches has a child in Special Olympics. Frazier’s 22-year-old son, Donald, and Lamm’s 19-year-old daughter, Erica, are both on Team 1. Fine’s 19-year-old son, Andy, is on Team 2. Tina Smith’s 15-year-old daughter, Rayna, is on the skills team.

Jim Wren, father of Sterritt-Wren, believes Special Olympics is a great program and has seen nothing but improvement in his daughter.

“It helped her mature, interact with people better," Wren said. He added that the program has also taught her social, teamwork and physical skills.

Maria Galay, caretaker of 15-year-old Mark Duphay of the skills team, spoke highly of the coaching staff.

“Every time I go to practice, I always feel humbled to see all the love that [the coaches] and the families have for the athletes,” Galay said. “It is very inspiring.”

The Union City Hoopahs will compete at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Alameda High School in Alameda.