Youth / OPINION : ‘We Are All Members of the Game, One Game’ : Teamwork is needed to win, whether it’s on the basketball court or making Los Angeles a better place.

No one has a greater stake in the Southern California community than our young people. With that in mind, KABC-TV, The Times, The Los Angeles County Public Library and Los Angeles Public Library sponsored an essay contest to give young people a chance to present possible solutions to the problems that face us. The theme was “Making Our Community a Better Place; How We Can Work Together.” Today, we publish the two grand prize winners. Each will receive a $1,000 savings bond.

Yikes!

My leg muscles contracted into a sharp, painful cramp. I limped over to the couch and just laid there while the cramp maliciously continued to poke and stab at me. The funny thing about it was that the cramp felt good--from a “metaphysical” point of view. It was my souvenir of a day of vigorous, adrenaline-charged hoops at the courts of the neighborhood park: four hours of running, jumping and more running, all done with total devotion and a lot of fatigue.

Yikes! As the physical aspect of the cramp became more clear, I flipped on the TV to take my mind off the pain.

Click: “Young girl, age 6, died this afternoon in the cross-fire of racial gang violence.”

In a way, it seemed that we were all running: running from the demon of our society’s decay; running to survive; running to avoid ending up on the 5 o’clock news ourselves. The more than 8.5 million people in the great community of Los Angeles are all running. That’s a lot of cramps.

As I continued to lie on the couch, I started to daydream about what happened earlier that afternoon.

I was walking over to the park, with a basketball lodged between my arm and the side of my body. Suddenly, I noticed a black figure running in my direction. I put a tighter grip on the ball. Why? I don’t know. I guess it was “social instinct.” As the figure came closer, I realized it was Thomas. I greeted him with an half-hearted smile, ashamed that I was guilty of the racism I so much hated and experienced myself as a Korean American. Nevertheless, I was happy to see him, and we walked over to the park together.

At the courts, Thomas and I ran across several of the basketball regulars and a few guys we had never seen before. It didn’t matter, though. Anyone was welcome into the game, and a few extra guys were always appreciated. It turned out that these guys were actually pretty good, and we had a terrific game. The sweat proved it.

On the way home, I walked with a limp that resulted from playing too aggressively. Nevertheless, I was feeling good. That’s what I like about basketball. It’s not so much the sport as it is the feeling of cooperation and brotherhood every teammate has for each other. If even one player decides to act on his own, the clockwork of the team breaks down and every member becomes vulnerable. Every person must work together for the common goal.

This can be accomplished by realizing that we are all members of the game, one game. One step outside the court and the game becomes the game of life. We play on the same team called the Human Race. Eventually, we come to recognize and appreciate each other’s differences as we, with our unique, individual strengths, aid each other past our weaknesses. The court is the community and we--the members--are working together to make the community a better place.

On the way home, I noticed a Latino man walking in the opposite direction. Though it would have been customary, and perhaps more comfortable, for me to look away, I decided to take a chance. With a smile I greeted him: “Good afternoon.” He smiled back and responded, “Good afternoon, amigo. “

I scored two points.

Perhaps there is hope for the community of Los Angeles after all.