On May 2, 2025, Dougherty Valley’s Interact Club partnered with the Rotary Club and the Wheelchair Foundation to host the first-ever wheelchair basketball game at DVHS. The event featured Berkeley Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) Adaptive Sports and Recreation athletes facing off against Dougherty Valley’s team, with the goal of raising awareness and money for adaptive sports.
Scott Gerbert, President-Elect of the Dougherty Valley San Ramon Rotary Club, has been involved with the Wheelchair Foundation for over 10 years. His goal over the past decade has been to advocate and represent wheelchair athletics.
“I wanted to showcase wheelchair athletes, and show the athletes and students at Dougherty Valley High that there are different and unique ways one can play their sport,” Gerbert expressed. “Although I don’t work for the district anymore, I still wanted to represent this issue and raise money and awareness to promote diversity.”
Working with the students of Dougherty Valley was a unique opportunity and Gerbert mentioned how he was amazed by how students and club members led these events, and had so much sensitivity to want to represent this area of athletics.
Along with Gerbert’s efforts, Allison Huang, a junior at Dougherty Valley and Vice President of the Dougherty Valley Interact Club, was a key part of the planning process.
Through her part in planning this event she wanted to send out the message of empowering wheelchair athletics and make the diversity of the San Ramon community known.
“Personally, bringing together the BORP and Dougherty Valley Basketball Team was a way to show people that there is so much more diversity than we think in our community,” Huang stated. “It was a really engaging way we could do this,”
The Wheelchair Foundation has funded and created other programs within Contra Costa County, and also in nearby districts. The Director of Community Outreach, Heather Schomaker, attended this event and expressed the motto of the foundation and what the organization accomplishes in the community.
“We work a lot with the schools to bring inclusivity to different programs, within both students and teachers, and to help gain empathy to people with different challenges than us,” she said, regarding what Wheelchair Foundation reflects in its work.
This event aims to fund sponsorships for wheelchairs for those in need in developing nations around the world.
The game tipped off at 6 p.m., and Steve Lau of BORP set the pace seconds into the game. Dougherty’s offense attempted to penetrate through BORP’s defense, but BORP’s strategy was strong and balanced the offense. Consecutively, Sam Craven made a two-pointer, which set a competitive tone for the match. Dougherty Valley responded when Luke Hansen grabbed a steal off the rebound and finished with a confident two points. Alonso Walker attempted to build on that momentum, but Rodriguez of BORP intercepted a pass and finished with a smooth layup. Craven kept the pressure on by adding two more quick baskets. BORP’s defense and offensive execution gave them a strong 16-2 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Rolling into the next quarter, BORP kept up with their excellent offensive strategies, and Lau opened the quarter yet again with a 2-pointer. Following up, Craven scored another two two-pointers, and Dougherty Valley started to slip with their passes. In the second quarter, they reached about 20 turnovers, and Lau scored another two. BORP’s interceptions put Craven in the lead for most points scored. Tyler Robbins of Dougherty Valley pivoted BORP’s scoring spree, and two points for DV, as well as achieving a layup. Hansen quickly followed with another two, and the quarter ended with BORP in the lead at 26-7.
Halftime consisted of games that both teams participated in, including the three-pointer contest and the free throw contest. Each contest included two rounds. In the three pointer contest, the first round was a tie between Rodriguez and Hansen, while the second round was a sweep by Rodriguez against Walker. The free throw contest followed the three point contest. Stokes and Lau were in a standoff with the first round resulting in a 2-2 tie. For the second round Devyn, Raynola and Rodriguez competed. Rodriguez won with a 75% success rate.
In the third round, Robbins opened with back-to-back baskets, and Stokes added two more, showing grit alongside Grace Chang of BORP, who took a fall but bravely got back in the game. BORP’s Maria Barbosa broke through with a bucket, but DV’s Hansen and Rodriguez scored right back. Barbosa scored again late in the quarter, but BORP continued their lead, ending the game with a strong 44-26.
Rodriguez, the point guard for BORP, shared his journey with this niche field. Rodriguez has been in a wheelchair for 17 years, and got into the sport a year after as he missed the overall community of basketball.
“The culture and energy of basketball is really nice, and fun to be a part of,” he remarked in regard to this team. “Today, playing with people that never played this variation of the sport before was super fun and cool, and I had a good time.”
The staff at Dougherty also had a key part in the execution of this event. Rene Matsumoto is a member of the Rotary Club as well as part of the faculty at DV. She is one of the advisors for the Interact Club.
“This game was really fun to watch, and I wanted to be a part in introducing people to a way of playing basketball in a different way, and I just thought the [boys basketball team] got a lot out of it. Something for the student body to take out of this is that there are so many ways people can play a sport, and be connected,” Matsumoto reflected.
Matsumoto also mentioned that she wants to bring this event back to Dougherty due to the success of it, and the message it radiated.
“I already had a conversation with [DV’s Basketball coach] and he is really interested in having the team play in this event again,” Matsumoto stated.
