Navigating the world in a wheelchair is challenging enough, but AP US History teacher Brad Ashby, who has a love for basketball, decided to add coaching to his resume. 

After 22 years of teaching, Ashby decided to coach freshmen boys’ basketball  this year. He had been talking to Jose Gil, the varsity boys’ basketball coach and athletic director, about coaching for about 15 years or so. “It was something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve been teaching with Gil for 22 years but I wanted to actually be with him on a coaching level as well.”

He had been wanting to coach off and on, but since he was the sole provider for his two kids, things got complicated. “I couldn’t really make the effort or time to coach until they started their first year in college,” Ashby said. That milestone happened this year, which opened up the door for him to take on the coaching role. Ashby has been playing basketball since he was a kid. When he was 18, he had an accident which left him paralyzed from his waist down. He didn’t let this affect his passion for basketball though. Instead of giving up, he decided to play wheelchair basketball. “My daughter plays basketball, so I coached her and I know that game,” Ashby said. “It’s a game that being in a wheelchair, you can do very efficiently, so it correlates to being a coach as well.” 

Compared to “normal” coaches, Ashby isn’t able to get on the court and show how a move is made or how to block somebody out with your body, but that doesn’t stop him. He has to physically move the kids into the positions he wants them to play and although it’s challenging, it has worked out for him. He also gets help from the assistant coaches and even the players for demonstration.

”He’s been a student of the game,” Gil said. “That’s what’s most impressive to me is that he wants to learn and get better so for me it’s a treat because I love teaching the game and I love sharing my knowledge.”  

The team’s season ended with 14-6 and Ashby was pretty satisfied but it wasn’t easy to work with them at first. “Working with freshmen that are more immature was somewhat of a challenge,” Ashby said. “I had to make sure that they were working as a team and not individually in order to strengthen their team-bond.” It was an overall good first season for Ashby and the players seemed pretty satisfied. “This season was a good learning experience on what Alisal basketball is about,” captain Aaron Ramirez said. “Above all, this season was very fun and exciting and I still feel I have a lot to improve on.”

During the season, the players came up with a name for themselves which was “Greg and ‘em.” “We acknowledged Gregory Velazquez as a big part of our almost undefeated preseason because of the way he boosted our teammates’ confidence,” Ramirez said. The players clearly bonded with each other and it led to improvements in their performance. They knew how to hype each other up and it all worked out for them. 

Apparently, “Greg and ‘em” was inspired from a well known high school team from Monteverde Academy and they called themselves “Cade n ‘em.” They started calling themselves that because they felt confident and they knew their team was going to be great. This season led to many great memories for the players and they feel ready and confident for next season. “My favorite part of the season was a one week stretch where we had a game everyday, and on some days we even had two games,” Velazquez said. “During this week we all had the most fun being able to celebrate a win everyday. It showed how we had grown as a team and the strong chemistry we developed throughout that week.” 

Ultimately, it was a good first season for Ashby and the Trojans even with all of their ups and downs, they were able to make the most out of it. “I will continue coaching,” Ashby said. “It’s something I enjoy doing.”