A center that helps in more than just sports

For my final essay due in my humanities class I was told to write about something that I found really interesting. So I started to think about the time that I use to coach my little cousin’s basketball team for the South San REC center. I spent a lot of adolescent years there because when I would get out of school my friends and I would go there to play a few pickup games of basketball until it would close. I was around the age of fourteen or fifth-teen when I was asked by my cousin and his friends if I could be their coach for the upcoming season. I really enjoyed volunteering my time there to help with the kids who would participate in the games. At first I just did it because I had nothing better to do in my spare time. Soon after the team started winning games a couple of the parents that would attend the games would come up to me just to shake my hand. Most of the parents would say that what I was doing helps a lot of the kids around the community. Even though the team I was coaching did not make it to the playoffs the time I spent with them helped me grow personally as well. This place help turn me into the responsible young man I am today! As the years went by, I just didn’t have as much time as I did before to go and help out around the REC center. Now for my paper I had to write about how the centers help the children in the community, and helped some children turn their lives around. So I thought that this would be a great opportunity for me to go back and see how things were going over there. The REC that I volunteered at was the South San REC center on 2031 Quintana Road, right down the street from Dwight Middle School. When I went inside to the REC center everything pretty much seemed to have stayed the same, but they did add a small playground in the back of the building. I went inside hoping to see the center’s staff that allowed me to help them coach the kids when I volunteered. Unfortunately, the new people there told me that they had been assigned to another community center in order to help out more kids all around San Antonio. I asked the center’s new staff workers what time were the REC center’s hours of operation, and they told me, “Monday and Wednesday two pm through nine pm; Tuesday and Thursday one pm through nine pm; Friday two pm through 7 pm; and Saturday nine am through five pm. This community however is closed all day on Sunday.” I asked the main coordinator what’s the requirements for kids to take part in here at the center? “Kids only have to be six years of age and up are allowed to go on in to use the basketball courts, board games, and pool table that are inside the building. This REC center, like every other one, provides all different types of activities to the public all year round. A few of the things that the public can take part in at the center are flag football, volleyball, dodge ball, and a whole lot of other things”, said Larry Castillo, one of the current staff members working there to this day. Then he told me,” Although the biggest sport that the kids get in to around here is basketball!” So I stayed there for a while to ask the kids how the center has helped them personally. Mostly all of the kids said the same thing, “well it helps me get better for my game so that I can be ready for when the school season starts!”, but a fourteen year old young man, Richard Cassias, said, “The center helped change the way I use to be! I was always getting into trouble, fights, and stealing, but then I came here and now all I do is play basketball until it’s about to close.” Hearing this coming from such a young kid made me realize that this place is not just for fun and games, but to some this place is what helps them to stay on a good path. As I was there I took time to observe the current staff and see how well they interacted with all of the children that go into the building and under their supervision. So I started to ask a few more of the kids that were there how they did like the staff here at the REC center. This little girl, Ana Guzman, said,” the people here are real nice they are always outside of the office and out here with us playing a couple of games.” She also said,” one of the ladies, Sarah, that work here is always willing to listen to me when I ask her for advice on something that might have gone wrong at school. The men and women here don’t just care about how we do here, but also how well we do at school as well. That’s why sometimes in the back room they put up tables where we can go and do some of our homework before our parents come for us.” Since I couldn’t stay there the entire day I took a look at the centers website, http://www.sanantonio.gov/, in order to take a look at some of events that will be taking place at any of the centers for the upcoming year. Accord to the website all of the centers will be having dancing, singing, and music classes for anyone who wants to attend. Also that they are asking anyone willing to show off their talent, and see if they want to participate in the San Antonio’s parks and recreation talent show “Our Part of Town” I had a real good time being able to go back and visit the place where I had so much fun when I was younger, and also helped me grow up to always try and help out kids by any means I can.