Their championship season

The second-year program is a new and uncharted venture for La Paloma. The basketball team is the school’s first sports program in its 42-year history. Most continuation schools don’t have athletic programs.

For the players at La Paloma, it presents an opportunity for something positive for students who wouldn’t have had a shot at other area high schools such as Liberty, Heritage, or Freedom.

“I was hopeful that students would really have something to motivate them,” La Paloma Principal Rachel Hancock said. “I was also a little bit nervous — competitive sports for our kids, they haven’t really always competed, they’ve never been eligible to be on a team sport. Our students struggle with group work and teams in general, but I’ve seen a lot of good come from this, so I’m really excited about next year.”

Jackson added: “We had a few kids who needed pushing in the right direction and (Kristen Capps, a teacher at La Paloma) talked to me in regards to maybe trying to start a basketball team. She came and she said ‘Ron, these guys need something. They shouldn’t be punished because they are at a continuation school.’”

Jackson has coached almost everywhere in the Bay Area, from San Jose State to Heritage and Adams Middle School. He even once coached Tom Brady in a tournament game in San Francisco where he once worked for Daly City Parks and Recreation. He’s coached some of the best talent at some of the most structured programs in Northern California.

However, La Paloma’s program faces a different set of challenges that Jackson never had to worry about before, nor do the other high schools in the Liberty Union High School District. Besides grades, La Paloma has struggled early with just getting players to practice and finishing out an entire season.

“There were only a few of us that really went,” said junior guard Ty Duggins. “Then there’s some that had stuff to do, so it was like, we can’t force them to come back at the same time.”

“The first six games were pretty rough because no one knew the plays,” senior Marlon Mejia said.

In their debut 2021-22 season, La Paloma had to end their season suddenly after the players were deemed ineligible 10 games in due to poor grades. While they didn’t face that this season, they had other schools cancel games on their end due to similar issues, holding them to just 13 games out of their 17-game schedule. They’ve been able to play in only 23 of the 34 total scheduled games in their first two seasons.

Then there’s the league — there isn’t one, at least not an official one like the Bay Valley Athletic League. Jackson took a few rejections at first from other continuation schools before finding schools in Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and Stockton that had teams and were able to play.

Finally, there’s the player factor, something that Jackson himself really had to adjust to. Jackson had to adjust to his players not being around campus for several reasons, such as work schedules, having to take care of younger siblings due to other adult relatives not being available, or other personal reasons.

“I may be more of a better person because I could feel for these kids in a way I never did before,” Jackson said. “You have to have some sympathy and empathy for what they’re going through.”

Then there’s actually coaching these students. Because of their individual circumstances, he had to change his approach to not push them away.

“Last year was trying because I had to deal with this stuff initially,” Jackson said. “College kids, they fight for the scholarships, they do everything you ask them to do. Here, they could care less because they may not have eaten that day, or they may have just gotten in a fight with the one person they thought cared about them, stuff like that. More than anything, I kind of get it. There’s more empathy from me, more than anything because I get it. I kind of understand.”

Yet, despite the current shortcomings that the program has had early on, La Paloma’s basketball program looks to become a new staple for the school’s culture. La Paloma’s teachers and staff aren’t afraid to show their support for the new program as well, helping out however they can by either bringing water and Gatorade to games for the team and even showing up with signs to support the kids at almost every game.

Championship aside, the program has brought a sense of positivity to a school. Its impact has already gone beyond the court.

“It’s a positive upbringing for the school,” Mejia said. “Not for just the students, but for the staff as well to get a positive outlook on this. We’re showing that we’re not just here for our reasons that we were coming to this school for, but for academic reasons and passion to play a sport.”

“It shows that we’re making that good mark that we talked about,” senior Andrew Reynoso said. “We’re putting that positive vibe out because we’re doing something nice and cool.”