Oakland Native Dee Daniels Fired Up on Becoming a Member
April 8 was Dee Daniels’, 58, first time coming to San Quentin Prison since he became a member of the outside tennis team that is frequently escorted into the prison by longtime volunteer Pat Leog.
The outside team frequents the prison weekly to challenge SQ’s tennis club that puts up competitive matches. But this day was special to Daniels because the courts were nothing like what he expected.
“I play a lot of tennis,” Daniels said while sitting on the sideline with his back against the chain-link fence that encompasses the court, observing the match taking place between some of his team members and the inside club members. “I was thinking that the courts here would be some of the worst I ever seen. But it’s nicer than some of the courts I play on in the streets.”
Daniels said that he plays tennis at San Antonio Park in Oakland where he lives. He also plays at other parks in the city. He said that he really loves the sport, although tennis was not his first choice; he said he is a basketball man. It was Pat Leog who got him interested in coming into the prison to challenge the men here in a match.
“These guys are good. I played two matches so far and I lost both of them,” said Daniels. “It’s not about the win or loss. As long as I get to have fun and the guy’s in here get to have fun — I enjoy it.”
Daniels took in the landscape and observed the Lower Yard full of residents partaking in various other sports. He noticed the basketball tournament being played by two intramural teams and he reminisced on the times when he used to play ball in his old Sobrante Park neighborhood in Oakland. Sobrante Park was one of East Oakland’s most dangerous neighborhoods in the ’80s. Daniels recalled people he knew that turned to negative choices and even went to prison.
“I was one of the lucky ones who made some good choices,” Daniels said. “It’s real easy to get caught up in the negativity. Sometime people can’t see the forest when there are trees in the way. I was just aware and I stay positive about life.”
Daniels got back on the court and attempted to get a victory with his partner. Eventually he won a match. At the end of the day his record was 4-1.
“I had a good partner and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes. I’m more of a singles player and I don’t get the opportunity to play with a teammate,” Daniels said. “But if me playing with the guys can help them with their rehabilitation, I’m absolutely with that.”
