Voices of the Incarcerated - The Importance of Sports in Prison

The essay "The Importance of Sports in Prison," written by Ramelle Kamack, is featured at the Prison Writers website. Excerpts from the essay are featured below.

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It was over fourteen years ago when I stepped on a Level-Four Maximum Security prison yard. Beneath the relentless sun, it was a sweltering one-hundred-ten degrees, and hundreds of inmates traversed a patch of scorched dirt the size of a football field. Dozens of guys flocked toward picnic tables to join card players; others worked out on pull-up bars, and a few loners walked about aimlessly and enjoyed the sun’s warmth.

Ahead, a basketball goal mounted a slab of dusty concrete. A second goal rested opposite of it; but that side of the court was forbidden to me and anyone else who shared my ethnicity. One side was strictly for Blacks, the other, for Latinos and whites. The inmate-imposed segregation reminded me of a scene from the pre-civil rights era. On the “Blacks Only” court, I glanced toward its rustic rim and gray strands of what used to be a net. Twenty feet from it, a brown-skinned guy scooped an orange ball off the ground before shooting toward the goal. The ball sailed and clunked off the rim before rolling toward me. I took the dusty ball in my hands and my fingers immediately pressed into the soft rubber. Among different ethnicities and hundreds of inmates, we had only one ball to share between us. Because of segregation, we had to take turns using the ball, and it was flat and lifeless, but not as deflated as my spirit.

Between the county jail and prison, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d seen grass. Hundreds of inmates scattered over the fresh green blades. I inhaled deeply while my nostrils took in the grass’s scent. Seconds later, a metallic clink reached my ears. I turned toward the noise. In the distance, a dozen inmates spread over a baseball diamond. At home plate, an inmate swung a metal bat with all his might. I froze and the breath in my lungs seemed to escape.

Occasionally, when in my cell, I’ll see an interview on CBS or FOX, where a professional athlete expresses gratitude for being able to play the game they love so much. Similarly, when I step on the prison yard, surrounded by hundreds of my colleagues who’re playing a variety of games for exercise, entertainment, and pure fun, I’m thankful for sports, but far more grateful for the privilege to play them.

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Ramelle Kamack is an incarcerated writer from California. You can read his full essay, "The Importance of Sports in Prison" at the Prison Writers website. Prison Writers works with incarcerated writers one-on-one to improve their writing and communications skills, and offers uncensored, personal stories and thoughtful essays from incarcerated citizens across the country about what really goes on inside the secretive world of prison corrections.

Since 2015, Prison Writers has published almost 600 stories from hundreds of incarcerated writers across the country, and pays $15-$20 per article. If you know of an incarcerated writer who might be interested in contributing to Prison Writers, you can send them Helpful Information for New Writers.