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Men's Tennis Does Time At San Quentin
May 26, 2010
(San Francisco) - Recently, the University of San Francisco men's tennis team took part in a unique community service activity. The Dons spent a Saturday afternoon at the San Quentin Penitentiary in San Quentin, Calif.
Following an intense security checkpoint, the Dons were allowed into the recreation yards to play tennis with a few of the inmates. The program at San Quentin has recently been featured in the Los Angeles Times. The feature story regarding the program can be read by clicking here.
The following is the experience from the view point of Peder Steen, a sophomore on the men's tennis team. --
Written by Peder Steen
The understanding of how a prison can reform and change a cynical criminal for the better is pretty incredible when you get to experience it with your own eyes. Not long ago, I had the opportunity to go visit the San Quentin prison, as a member of the University of San Francisco men's tennis team, and play tennis with some of the inmates. Coach Don DeNevi, a member of the San Quentin staff and a life long tennis enthusiast, formed the prison's first tennis team ten years ago and recently invited the Dons to come play.
The four hours inside the prison wass simply the most interesting hours of my life. It was a surreal and intimidating experience to enter a prison as a visitor; coming to play tennis. But the prisoners welcomed us with loving hearts. It was literally a couple of balls, back and fourth over the net, before the thought of the other guy being a criminal went away.
After playing a four game match against a small man, this guy came over to my bench and sat down. His name was Raphael. He explained that he was a "lifer". He was serving 25 years to life, and had been inside the prison for 27 years. Raphael and I sat there, in the middle of a prison yard talking to each other, as nothing was unusual. He was a little intense but excited to play tennis with someone from the outside.
The way he talked and the understanding he had of everything was mind-blowing. His knowledge and general awareness of how life his was and how it should be, opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective of things in a way nobody else possibly could do. There was simply no way I could understand that he was a criminal.
Raphael explained that he had done some terrible things back in the days. He went on to explain how prison saved his life. 27 years ago, he lived on the streets and all that was on his mind was drugs. Raphael never said anything about the actual reason for why he ended up at San Quentin, but he explained that before prison he had nothing. Now, 27 years later, he had finished high school and earned a college degree. But the best thing for him was that he had been clean and sober for 25 years. He hadn't even touched coffee.
Raphael told me that nothing was going to be in his way for a perfect life when he got out - that is, if he got out. The thought of a new, rehabilitated life outside prison was his goal and the only thing that kept him going. He explained that this was the purpose of prison - to clean up the society from bad guys, and then try to make them better people. But there was no way he ever could have become a better person and gain the knowledge that he had, if it wasn't for prison helping him with his drug problem.
Prison provided Rafael with hope. The different programs helped him out of a life of drugs, into a changed life of possibilities and potential. Even though Coach DeNevi told me at the end of our visit that Raphael was sentenced to life for killing two people, my opinion of him didn't change.
