FLORIDA, Mass. — Abbott Memorial School student Tanner Reynolds received a special delivery from his basketball coach. 

 

"This Trophy means a lot to me," Reynolds said at a small ceremony held outside of the school on Friday morning. "It is my first one." 

 

Reynolds' team, the Indiana Pacers, went undefeated during the 2019-2020 North Adams Youth Basketball League season. When COVID-19 stormed through at the conclusion of the season, gatherings were limited.

 

This, of course, meant no banquet, no trophy ceremony.

 

"I was thinking as soon as COVID hit we were waiting and waiting for that trophy and the banquet," Reynolds said. "I thought dang COVID messes it all up."

 

But Reynolds didn't want COVID-19 to take away his team's complete ascension to glory, so he asked teacher Jamie Boucher for some help.

 

"I thought we can make a lesson out of a life experience," she said. "That is what we try to do, so we decided to write a letter."

 

The letter stated:

 

"I felt so happy about the win, and I am so proud to see my team succeed together. It is very important to me that we get our trophies because we deserve them and it is not fair that just because of COVID we were not recognized for our teamwork, undefeated season and championship win."

 

And it worked.

 

Reynolds' coach David Baumbach received the letter and shared it with the league's board.

 

He said initially there was a pretty big issue: the league's trophy distributor had gone out of business, unable to weather the pandemic.

 

But the NAYBL found a new distributor to whip up the trophies. The first championship trophy of the season was hand-delivered to Reynolds.

 

"I think it shows how in good hands our kids are with everything we do," Baumbach said. "We work hard, and I think a lot of it goes under the radar, but we try like heck to get everyone involved ... it has been a tough year but we are continuing to work on it."

 

Both Baumbach and Reynolds were saddened that the 2020-2021 season has yet to commence.

 

"He is Mr. Basketball," Principal Heidi Dugal said. "It is something that incentives him every day in school. It gets him through a lot of tough days when he has a lot of work."

 

With restrictions placed on the North Adams Armory by the city to limit the transmission of COVID-19, the league has found it difficult to organize a season of some kind. One of the restrictions only allows kids from the North Adams Public Schools in the league. This means Reynold could not participate even if there was an ongoing season. 

 

The NAYBL continues to hold discussions with the city about a possible return of the league. 

 

"For us, it is a big thing because we want the kids to know that we are still fighting for them to get gym time," Baumbach said. "We have not forgotten about them."

 

Renyolds hopes this happens sooner than later but does have his eyes on high school ball. Reynolds plans to go to McCann Technical School in North Adams and play on that basketball team.