UNITY
By:Ryan T
David Moore
or ‘D-Mo’
“I be crying everyday. I don’t care, I cry everyday. I cry everyday in the car. Everyday” (Moore). Light oods an empty intersection as the moon emerges from the trees. A car slowly comes to a stop, lingering for a moment too long. A bystander could look into this car and see a rough exterior of a man sitting behind the wheel, the ensemble complete with a goatee and tattoos. But if that person was to take a moment and stick their head through the window, looking back at them would be a face full of tears and a wide smile. e tears aren’t of sadness or of joy, but of thankfulness. Possibly an unexpected pride in one’s own reason to get up every day. “ is is my life. You know what
“It’s a family It’s a culture”
I mean. I don’t need to work. I don’t ask for money. I am just as thankful as them” (Moore). David Moore, or ‘D Mo;’ as his friends a ectionately call him, is the current Director of Skill Development at Team Esface Basketball Academy. He personally sees to it that every kid under his wing is reaching their full potential, not only on the basketball court, but in the classroom and the household. Esface is an athletic-based youth training and development organization, but those who are a part of it see it as much, much more. “It’s a family, it’s a culture. Everybody’s
uni ed… we’re all like this, not like this,” he says, beginning with a closed st and then opening it, “So we’re really a family, and where I come from family is said as Ohana in Hawaiian… that is one of the big things I value in life” (Moore). Coming from a Hawaiian background David grew up in a very family oriented household, with four sisters and plenty more cous ins. When he moved out to California and met with Dele and Olatunde, two brothers and the founders of Team Esface, he was welcomed into the Esface family with open arms. Consequently, David goes on to tell us that “ e culture we’ve created is very family oriented. So learning that, and understanding the
value in having that together, it’s helping me learn to be a better father and role model to these kids, and to my own kids that I have and to my own family that I’ve created here in California” (Moore). Kiran Kruse, a high school freshman, has been playing with Esface for some years now and couldn’t agree more. “Esface is absolutely a family. You know the kids that I’ve met here, and probably have been on a team with for 4 or 5 years, have become some of my closest friends” (Kruse). While ‘Esface’ may stand for Education and Service through Fashion, Athletics, Community, and Entertainment, it’s the community that really di ers it’s young athletes and coaches from other organizations. David spends a majority of his day sel essly helping his trainees become the best they can be. He lately has invented a new training program called SOKWE, which has a primary focus on nding one’s limits, reaching them, and then
pushing them further. “ ere’s ve parts to it. ere’s three parts in the morning, really quick as soon as you get up, because D Mo [David] wants you attacking your weaknesses at the weakest part of your day which is right a er you wake up” (Kruse), Kiran explains. David personally helps out every individual kid on the team and makes sure to have a healthy personal relationship with each one.
A few months ago the Esface Team received some disheartening news. “We just found out one of our kids had leukemia,” David quietly says, sulking into his seat, “You know and he is only 12 years old… Now I am doing research and trying to understand more about this cause I don’t understand how everybody is getting this, and a kid this
young… how could even was a kid who could hit a so animated” (Moore). Ohana
to David means family stays together, and when a family as big as Esface pushes through a hardship like this shoulder to shoulder, their Ohana is only stronger. “So when I went to go see him at the hospital, you know, I played him in 2K at the hospital, it was just… e the fact that he couldn’t have that energy… seeing a guy that got more energy that me, the fact that he didn’t have that hurt me and hurt the sta . We were all there at the hospital and saw him. at was very a low point, the fact that this can be taken away” (Moore). Seeing that kid, that he knew so well and so personally su er so much, took a big 3
toll on David.
ere were a lot of things that he realised happen every day, yet can be gone the next. “So it put me in reality that everyday is not granted and every dribble we take, every speech we have, we have to make something of it. Everyday in the o ce, everyday on the court, we have to make something of every situation, every minute of this day, everyday. Which sometimes I can take for myself for granted myself, running around doing so many things. But that right there, we try to turn that low into a positive” (Moore). It’s sticking together and understanding the weight of life, even when applied to something as plain and absolute as basketball, that makes David’s beliefs and values so much more complex.
e Esface family seems to only be growing bigger, welcoming in new members to its community constantly.
e values instilled by David are now blossoming into new relationships and helping people nd their own paths.
“ at’s what I love. And that’s developing the youth, you know what I mean. Seeing them grow. Something I never
had. I was playing barefooted with a volleyball in Hawaii. I was playing by myself because that value was not there at this level. e Ohana was there, but the importance a sport or using basketball as a tool to develop the youth was not there. at was very lacking over there. Something I wish I could go back and change over there and do time in the future” (Moore). Being able
“Esface is absolutely a Family”
to help children see their own potential, and helping them have the support he sees has so important to one’s life is what makes David the man he’s happy to be today. “So everyday I’m going to cry going home… Every other day I am bawling on the way to San Jose. In the morning I may catch the radio one time and before I switch to my iPhone, I may let that… what is her name? One of these little girl singers, right, my players probably laugh at me but I may let it go cause that Be-
yonce or that Rihanna may be catching me a di erent way, because I am so happy about what I am about to go do.”
e future of Esface is bright and unknown, but as long as David is a part of it it’s going to be a future with founding ideals on family. At core of everything he does lies unity. Not only is it unity on the court during a game, or unity in practicing and exercising, but unity in life. “It’s about each other. It’s about helping each other get better, you know what I mean. Helping each other be the best they can be. Because me being on the court training them is helping me grow. It is helping me be a better father and a better husband to my wife, you know. We are all learning these life lessons together” (Moore). Everyone says that Esface is like a family, but David knows that Esface is a family. thing of every situation, every minute of this day, everyday. Which sometimes I can take for myself for granted myself, running around doing so many things. But that right there, we try to turn that low into a positive” (Moore). It’s sticking together and understanding the weight of life, even when applied to some thing as plain and absolute as basketball, that makes David’s beliefs and values so much
more complex.
e Esface family seems to only be growing bigger, welcoming in new members to its community constantly.
e values instilled by David are now blossoming into new relationships and helping people nd their own paths. “ at’s what I love. And that’s developing the youth, you know what I mean. Seeing them grow. Something I never had. I was playing barefooted with a volleyball in Hawaii. I was playing by myself because that value was not there at this level. e Ohana was there, but the importance a sport or using basketball as a tool to develop the youth was not there. at was very lacking over there. Something I wish I could go back and change
Work Cited
Moore, David. Personal Interview. 16 March 2016. Kruse, Kiran. Personal Interview. 23 March 2016.
over there and do time in the future” (Moore). Being able to help children see their own potential, and helping them have the support he sees has so important to one’s life is what makes David the man he’s happy to be today. “So everyday I’m going to cry going home… Every other day I am bawling on the way to San Jose. In the morning I may catch the radio one time and before I switch to my iPhone, I may let that… what is her name? One of these little girl singers, right, my players probably laugh at me but I may let it go cause that Beyonce or that Rihanna may be catching me a di erent way, because I am so happy about what I am about to go do.”
e future of Esface is
bright and unknown, but as long as David is a part of it it’s going to be a future with founding ideals on family. At core of everything he does lies unity. Not only is it unity on the court during a game, or unity in practicing and exercising, but unity in life. “It’s about each other. It’s about helping each other get better, you know what I mean. Helping each other be the best they can be. Because me being on the court training them is helping me grow. It is helping me be a better father and a better husband to my wife, you know. We are all learning these life lessons together” (Moore). Everyone says that Esface is like a family, but David knows that Esface is a family.
