Oberlin High girls basketball team developing a partnership with Oberlin College girls team

Though they sometimes seem to operate in distant universes, less than a mile separates Oberlin High School and Oberlin College. First-year Oberlin girls coach Howard Chambers devised a plan to use basketball to bring both communities together. Chambers reached out to Oberlin College women's basketball coach Stephany Dunmyer to create a partnership that resulted in all of the youth basketball players in the community going to Oberlin College's Jan. 25 game to cheer on the Yeowomen. And two days later, the Oberlin College women's team came to the high school on Senior Night to support the Phoenix when it faced Buckeye. In between, players from both teams met for a question and answer session to help understand their shared connection through the game of basketball. "It helped our girls to see outside the box, outside of what Oberlin has to offer," Chambers said. "I want them to be thinking, not just about basketball but about going to college and what's it going to take to play at the next level." For some of the high school players, like senior Clara McCown, it was the first time they had ever seen the college team play. "It felt good to feel like part of a bigger community and not just like we're a program by ourselves," McCown said. "It was pretty fun to go to one of their games and get a look at how they play and see one of their games, and then they came to one of our games." Not many high schools have a Division III NCAA program in their backyard. Oberlin High junior Janiah Bowen-Pride was happy that her team could take advantage of the unique situation. "I don't think any other school around here has a college team so close like that," Bowen-Close said. "It was really fun to see them play and for them to come on our Senior Night to cheer us on. It's not something that we should take for granted. It's a great opportunity." As part of the partnership Oberlin High had a chance to play one of its home games at Phillips Gymnasium on the college campus. Chambers is hoping to make these bridge-building activities an annual thing. For Chambers, bringing the community together to provide support and stability for a high school program that has struggled to win games and has seen a stream of coaching changes is one of his top priorities. "My main thing coming in this year was getting everybody involved," Chambers said. "Being a small community and a small school, it can't just be the coaches, it has to be everybody — the families, the community everybody has to be all in. It's going to take a village to build this up." For Oberlin High sophomore Larissa Freas, meeting the college players didn't just help her learn about what it takes to play at the next level, it also taught an important life lesson. "Interacting with the girls and hearing their experiences, the struggles they've been through and how much time they dedicate to the game, put into perspective how much work and dedication it takes to play at the next level," Freas said. "It was cool to see the connection with the kids who grew up in Oberlin and the ones who go to the college. We're all just people in the same community. "They have all girls from all around. I met girls from California and Colorado. It was great to see that playing basketball is a universal experience. Chambers brought youth basketball back to Oberlin and now girls as young as third grade are playing organized basketball and also got the chance to meet the college players. "The youth players looked at the Oberlin College girls like star athletes, like we'd look at an NBA player," Chambers said. The programs Chambers put in place are already playing dividends, as the Phoenix have won six games this year, the most by an Oberlin team since joining the Lorain County League in 2019. "This is a stepping stone to getting it back to how it used to be when I grew up in Oberlin," Chambers said. Seeing the college girls take an interest in their program was an important takeaway for the high school players. "Honestly, one of the best experiences was after the game when they were high-fiving us and telling us good game," Bowen-Pride said. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.