Thanks to numerous volunteers and donations, San Quentin’s sports programs are thriving, despite severe budget cuts.
Recreation and physical education programs in California prisons are founded on six broad goals providing inmates opportunities for achievement through participation in a range of programs that promote the following:

• Physical activity
• Physical fitness and wellness
• Movement skills and movement knowledge
• Social development and interaction
• Self-image and self-realization
• Individual excellence

That’s the description included in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Operations Manual.
Prison sports and recreational programs are administered by the education departments within each institution – similar to the way interscholastic sports are provided and delivered by public schools. A recreation coordinator is on staff to oversee recreational scheduling, ensuring that departmental and institutional goals and requirements are met.
Budget reductions within the past fiscal year have resulted in major cuts in prison education statewide, including San Quentin’s Robert E. Burton Adult School. The cuts resulted in the layoffs of many teachers and extensive realignment of staff and educational programming.
STILL THRIVING
Yet our sports programs seem to thrive. San Quentin has teams that play against outside competition in the following sports:

• Baseball (two teams)
• Basketball (two teams – unrestricted, and over 40)
• Flag football
• Softball
• Tennis

Many people ask, “Why should prisoners be allowed to play sports when schools in the community are cutting sports programs?” The answer is there is no good reason why sports in the community should be cut at the expense of prison sports, but that’s not why they are being cut.
Furthermore, I know it’s true that most prison sports participants would give up playing and competing in the sports they enjoy if it meant that a deprived youth could participate in his stead.
SPORTS ARE NEEDED
Here is why I believe sports are necessary in prison.
Sports foster self-esteem. Low self-esteem is a big reason why people perpetrate the acts that cause them to end up in prison. People who don’t feel good about themselves generally don’t care much about others. Even moderate success in a sport can help increase self-esteem.
Sports help promote and maintain physical well-being. Physical activity reduces stress and strengthens muscles and bones, thereby leading to better mental and physical health. Healthy long-term inmates cost taxpayers less money due to reduced healthcare issues.
Sports also provide a necessary outlet and distraction for the spectators. Sports help the observer feel they are part of something bigger than themselves and a team’s success becomes their success. And heckling, as annoying and unsportsmanlike as it can be, provides the heckler with a sense of purpose as well as an outlet for built-up anger and stress.
Sports help people learn to interact with others. We are social creatures and sports provide many opportunities for positive interaction and socialization with others, very critical in a prison environment with so many ways of negatively channeling energy.
Team sports are integrated with people of different races, colors and creeds working as a team towards a common goal. People who do not get along in any other arena put their differences aside to participate in sports together. If it can be done in athletics it can be done in the workplace and in societal situations in general.
Additionally, interaction with players from the free outside teams can show inmates that when they are doing the right thing they can gain acceptance in the community. Furthermore, some contacts have led to employment upon parole, thereby potentially reducing recidivism.
Sports also include more than just players. Referees and umpires, equipment personnel, scorekeepers and scoreboard operators, and others are vital parts of the teams and are given a sense of belonging.
Sports are a privilege, not a right. Persons who are disciplinary problems and/or safety or security concerns in the prisons are not permitted to participate in team sports. These activities must serve a higher purpose or they are irrelevant and should be cut. When players grumble and complain about their coaches, teammates, and playing time they are removed from the teams. Sports teach conformity to rules and discipline.
FUNDED BY DONATIONS
Before anyone thinks this must be costing the State of California millions of dollars and causing the budget deficit, read on.
Team sports in San Quentin are funded by donations from various agencies around the Bay Area and are staffed and coached by volunteers from the surrounding communities, and inmates. Equipment and uniforms have been donated by local professional sports teams, church groups and other sources.
No additional paid staff is required to supervise any sporting or recreational activity occurring within the prison. The only monetary outlay by the State for sports and recreation, aside from the salary for the recreation coordinator, is for the purchase of various small items to provide for those who are unable or not inclined to participate in the team sports.
For the 2010-11 fiscal year the expected outlay for this equipment is $7,042.91. During the past fiscal year nearly 16,000 inmates passed through or are currently housed at San Quentin. This works out to a sports and recreation expenditure of less than 50 cents per inmate, which includes the General Population, Condemned Row, the Reception Center, and specialized housing units.
RISE ABOVE IT
Sports are fun. In my opinion, nobody, anywhere, should have to be miserable. Life is too short. Prison sentences are long, and in most cases, including mine, deservedly so. Removal from society and separation from loved ones is hard and is more punishment than most people realize. Prison can be mind-numbingly dull, noisy, dirty, and generally unpleasant. I’m certainly not complaining, just observing. There is plenty of extra punishment for those not willing to conform. I know many people believe that is all prison should be, and they are certainly entitled to that opinion.
Many men in prison manage to rise above the adversity and get college degrees, complete self-help programs, earn GED certificates and high school diplomas, obtain vocational certification, learn to play musical instruments, paint, draw, write, and learn to play a variety of sports. Then they go out and become productive members of society. Sports, as well as other extra-curricular activities, help make a person well-rounded.
Approximately 85 percent of California prison inmates will one day be released back to society.
Ultimately, the question is: “If a parolee were to move in next to me, would I want him to have been dehumanized and locked away in a cage for years, or would I want someone who is a better man than when he went into prison?” Sports help contribute to that “better man.”

Elliot Smith has been coming into San Quentin with his team, the Oaks/Cubs, to participate in baseball games for approximately 16 seasons. In 2009, he took it to the next level and became a coach for the San Quentin Giants.
Smith, 67, is an unassuming man and pitchers consistently misjudge his moderate stature and his ability and always seem surprised when he laces yet another line drive to right-center. He has an extensive knowledge of the history of baseball, its rules, and how to play it. But there is a lot more to him than baseball as you will soon find out.
The following interview took place during a baseball game (the perfect venue) on a beautiful Saturday morning at San Quentin’s Field of Dreams.
When did you first come to San Quentin?
“1994 or 1995. I started coming in early in the inception of the program. (Former SQ recreation coordinator, the late) Jim Chiminiello was involved. They left all the coaching to (inmate) Leonard Neal. There was also a guy coaching named Dan Jones that I had coached against in Little League and played with in Senior League. When I saw him I thought he was in prison! He told that story to all the players and it made it easier to get along and it paved the way to get to know everyone else. Kent (Philpott, the S.Q. Giants current coach) was involved too.
What made you come in to begin with?
“Beside the fact it was baseball, there was curiosity, and some recognition of the social aspects. Society benefits from the interaction. I realized the value to the inmates and that my participation had a benefit. It benefits everyone, even the spectators. If someone cares from the outside they feel they have some hope. I’m a lawyer and people knew that. People looked at me as a lawyer, and people generally respect lawyers. I think that had a positive result because they thought that a lawyer cares enough about us to come in.”
What was your impression and experience coming into the prison at that time?
“I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t afraid. I had no conception of what the yard was like. I just came in to see what it is. I turned the corner on the ramp coming down to the yard and saw the field and Mt. Tam and it’s beautiful. And it occurred to me that people are in one of the most scenic areas and can’t enjoy it. I remember my first game we had a bunch of players from different places and I didn’t even know some of them. I went back to work and my secretary asked me how was the game and I told her the biggest asshole was on my team!”
In 2004, you participated in the making of the documentary ‘Bad Boys of Summer’. What was that like for you?
“It was interesting to be part of the production of it and be miked. I liked being able to give some advice and leads. It was frustrating that it never got released or distributed. It’s a shame because I think the movie broke two stereotypes about prison. One was, it showed inmates are human beings and have the same emotions as everyone else, and humor, and grace. The second was that everyone in prison says they’re innocent, and in the movie everyone they showed said what they did and acknowledged that they were stupid and are remorseful. They may say they were overcharged or over-sentenced but they are not saying they are innocent.”
Does baseball in prison differ from baseball on the “streets”?
“No. I like playing in here. I like the games. It’s actually my favorite baseball. I never played a team that is more appreciative of playing the game. Year in and year out, and it doesn’t matter who is on the team, the team hustles and pushes you. And there is always good sportsmanship, which you don’t always find on the outside.”
What made you want to come in and coach?
“I felt I had something to add as far as baseball knowledge and also on a personal level. I thought there would be people on the team, for that matter the spectators, who would gain something as far as socialization from me. So to me it was a perfect merging of two issues close to me: One is baseball and the other is social justice.”
What do you get out of it?
“My job is as a corporate lawyer. I basically help rich people get richer. It’s more beneficial to society what I do in here and gives me a sense of self-worth.”
What is the biggest challenge or obstacle to coming in?
“Dealing with the prison bureaucracy on all levels, gate clearances, bringing traditional baseball equipment through and the arbitrariness of it, and the fear that the program will be canceled on a whim. I’m not really challenged by coaching or a relationship with players.”
You recently were able to go on a tour of the prison, along with members of the St. Louis Cardinals. What was that experience like for you?
“It was interesting to rub elbows with people on the Cardinals even though I’m a Cubs fan! I got to see a part of the prison that I wouldn’t normally be able to see. The murals were interesting, and I got to see South Block and talk to people on Death Row. It made me realize that there are different strata in prison, not just based on race and ethnicity.”
Do you think sports should be taken away from prisoners?
“No. People who are playing or watching are going to get out. They need to be treated like human beings. They make mistakes and not everyone who makes mistakes are in prison. I don’t think it’s a valid argument to say, “Why should prisoners have baseball, or college, or medical care, or anything else, when I don’t?” The answer is to demand that you have access to those things on the outside.”