by Angela Moreno-Tijerina

Almost three years ago, a new teenager came to live at the Youth Ranch.  His name was Dominic Adams, and he stood out among the other children.  He was almost 6 feet tall, wore his hair in a full Afro, and had a tattoo on his right forearm.  Immediately, he felt like he didn’t fit in and was reluctant to stay. 

It was a daily struggle to convince Dominic that he could become a part of the HCYR family.  After being bumped around between family members and foster parents, never quite feeling like he belonged anywhere, it was a challenge for Dominic to bond with anyone. 

Always with his finger on the pulse of Ranch life, HCYR Founder and Director Gary Priour noticed the situation, including Dominic’s tenuous sense of belonging.  Next he did what he has done so many times in the past with over a thousand children – he had a conversation with the newest family member. 

After talking to him and realizing his love of basketball, Gary drove Dominic to the Ranch’s gym and introduced him to the chaplain and Recreation Director, Doug Lanier.  Thus began a relationship that would not only help Dominic acclimate to life at HCYR, but also provide him with a father figure. 

Dominic recalls, “When I first came here, all I would do was go to the gym and play basketball with Doug.  He was never too busy for me, and we played for hours at a time, while we talked about sports and life.  I had never known anyone who gave me that much attention and never got tired of me.  After meeting Doug, I thought that this place might not be so bad and that I might give it a chance.”

Give it a chance he did. Arriving as a 14-year-old with a spotty academic record, Dominic was reluctant to go to school and face being two years behind grade level. When a school counselor took an interest in him, he found himself in summer school, and in due time, back on track with his age group. 

As a ninth grader, he joined the basketball team and soon revealed the extraordinary gift that would change everything.  He also learned that to be eligible to play ball, as well as gain privileges at the Ranch, he would have to take care of Job #1 – school. 

“If there is one thing the Ranch definitely does,” Dominic says, “it is to instill that you have to do your best in school.  They do everything they can to help you, from having study hall at our cabin, to private tutors to help with classes you may be having a problem with.”

“You learn a lot living at the Ranch,” continues Dominic, “and not just at school.  During the summer, we have Career Development Week and people from different professions come in to show us different possibilities for adult life.  We also learn more practical things, like how to do our own laundry, buy a car, rent an apartment, or fill out a job application.  They teach you things you need to know about living on your own.” 

While admitting that he might never be an all-A student, Dominic is proud of the fact that he has passed all of his classes since moving here. He sees no reason why he won’t continue this pattern  through next year, when he will be a senior on his way to graduation. 

And oh, yeah – by the way – did I mention he plays basketball? One local newspaper calls him a “phenom” the likes of which this area hasn’t seen in a long time.

In an early January basketball game, the ITM Warrior team found itself down 45-33 against an opponent ranked No. 2 in the state, with less than five minutes to go in the game.  As others have described it, Dominic exploded “like a bolt of lighting on a cloudless day,” and scored 12 points in a 50-second burst, helping Ingram to a one-point victory.  The Warriors are undefeated in District play, with a 24 - 4 record, now ranked No. 6 in the state.  Dominic is the team’s leading scorer (26 per game) and also the top rebounder. 

In addition to leading his team to victory after victory, Dominic never fails to thrill the crowds. With a Jordanesque flying time when he leaves the floor, his legs seem to be spring-loaded.  One fan was recently overheard telling a guest he had brought just to see Dominic play, “it’s the best $3 you’ll ever pay for sports entertainment.”

Not one to boast of his own skills, Dominic gives credit for Ingram’s winning ways to the team as a whole.  Even though the local newspapers cannot get enough of reporting about this “wonder-kid ball player,”  Dominic is clearly at work to maximize his team’s potential. 

“Every game we play,” he says, “we play as a team.  It isn’t about one person’s skills.  It’s about what we do as a team.” 

This group-effort attitude has carried over to Dominic’s home life back at the Ranch.  While he admits he doesn’t particularly enjoy chores, he understands that they must be done.  From washing dishes to vacuuming his room, “it just has to be done.”  

Besides keeping his cabin clean, he also realizes the value of being a role model and playing by the rules, off the court.  By assuming responsibilities, consistently bringing home good report cards, and serving as a role model to other children, he has climbed the ranks to “Phase Three”, the highest standing that a resident can have at the Ranch.  This means that Dominic enjoys freedoms such as trips to town with friends or staying out later for a special occasion on a weekend night. 

As he nears his senior year, the inevitable recognitions  are beginning.  Recently, we received a letter informing us that Dominic had been selected to represent Texas in an international basketball tournament to be played in Australia in July. Apparently, statistics had been crunched to find the crème de la crème players, and Dominic had popped up as one of the twelve best players in all of Texas. 

We were all very proud for Dominic. He smiled when he saw the letter, but he assumed that he probably wouldn’t be able to attend the event for obvious reasons.  The price of the trip was considerable.  As a charitable home caring for 90 children at a time, it is a constant struggle to keep well-fitting shoes on feet and food on plates, let alone finance a trip to another continent. 

That evening, I told a long-time Ranch friend about the opportunity Dominic had just been given, and our inability to fund it.  Unexpectedly, she said, “This is the opportunity of a lifetime for him.  Not only will he be playing with the best players around the world, but this experience will be with him for the rest of his life.  I’m sorry,” she continued, “but I can’t let you NOT send him.  I will pay for the trip.” 

Tripping over my own feet to find Dominic and tell him about the incredible gift, I was just as unprepared for his response.  I expected an expression of excitement, but I received something much different – much more somber, more noble, and so humble that it will stay with me forever.

“When I was 13 years old,” he began, “I lived in Chicago with my mother, and she was really tired of me.  There were 10 kids in all, and she had already gotten rid of a lot of us, but I was still around.  So, she put me on a bus after buying a one-way ticket to San Antonio, Texas, because she believed there was a family there that might take me in.  She handed me a loaf of bread and a package of bologna and walked away.  That was it – no luggage, no clothes or shoes, not even a toothbrush – just a package of bologna and a loaf of bread.  I have never heard from her again.  That was the best that my own mother could do for me.” 

As I imagined that long and lonely bus trip, he continued, “now, you are telling me that someone who has never met me, doesn’t even know who I am – someone is gonna pay for a trip that could change my life forever.  Is that what you are telling me?” 

“Yes,” I replied, “that is what I’m saying.”  We discussed possible work projects for him to help raise spending money for his trip. Slowly, he allowed himself to wrap his mind around an idea that would have surely never been even imagined in the life he had come from.

Although he anxiously awaits the trip, he will not let it, or anything else, detract from his team’s current season.  While he has allowed himself to dream of playing college basketball, and possibly even turning pro some day, he is the first to point out the improbability of it all.  “There are lots of guys out there and lots of talent.  I need to prepare for something else, a profession to join.  I can always play ball, but I also need something else, for a day-job,” he says as he lets slip a grin.

“This is my home,” he adamantly declares.  “I met Doug and I know that no matter what, for the rest of my life, if I called him at 11:00 at night, any night, he would be there.  He would help me, whether that meant shooting some hoops in the gym or having a serious talk.  Besides, I can’t leave this place.  No one else was there to teach this kid how to say please or thank you or yes, sir.  I have new values now – morals and principals.  Sure, I could leave and move to a larger community with a bigger school and basketball program.  But, I’ll never do that – I’ve made a commitment to my team, my school, the Ranch and myself.  And I don’t want to disappoint any of those people.”