<Begin Segment 16>

LH: Okay, well going back to, again, those little sports leagues in Tule Lake. I mean, what was it like actually, you know, how did they organize them, and what kind of...?

FF: Oh, it was well-organized, 'cause we were in a section, or -- section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 -- there were seven sections and there was nine blocks, nine blocks in every section -- and every section could have a team, a block team -- they have a league for that. And they have made up teams in the double A, which is the best of the camp, camp athletes. And then the single A, and double B's and C's. And then peewee league like I played when I was twelve years old. I think that whole scenario was amazing, because the communities pitched in. As an example, the outdoor sand is our court, and what you do is you sweep away the sand, 'cause you want a hard floor surface. And we all pitched in to sweep and keep it and water it and, and work out the kinks and wrinkles so the ball would bounce properly. And we had like an actual, like a real floor. And then they use, first they use two by fours, but if it stuck out a little and if you were on the line, on the edge line, you could hurt yourself. So we started to get sophisticated, used white flour for markings, but that didn't last long 'cause it... but there were a lot of things that were done in camp to make the game so professional. And every time there was a playing of the hotshot teams, I was there. I watched every good player, and San Francisco Mikado, the Sacramento Wakabas and boy, I can remember all the good players and, and I was impressed. I enjoyed every minute of it.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.