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“Girl… she’s here. That’s Napheesa Collier.”
The WNBA’s and Unrivaled’s Napheesa Collier and Kate Martin had just walked into the Belfonte Tacolcy park. Excitement was an understatement.
On a warm Wednesday afternoon in Liberty City, the first sound wasn’t sneakers.
It was curiosity.
Kids leaned over the sideline staring at fresh paint that had not learned the language of pickup games yet. The backboards were clean. The lines were sharp. No scuff marks. No arguments about whether a shot was a two or a three. Just a new court waiting for its first stories.
For Robert Carter, that moment mattered more than the ribbon cutting.
“I hope there’s some kind of number one day,” Carter said. “The number of children who learned how to play basketball here for the first time. Maybe some become athletes. Maybe others do something else. But the confidence and the lessons stay with them.”
Carter, head of brand innovation for Opella, the maker of Icy Hot, stood near the baseline as Unrivaled and community leaders unveiled the renovated court at the historic Belafonte TACOLCY Center, a Liberty City institution serving youth since 1966.
Corporate partnerships often talk about growing the game. Carter said this project aimed to do something different.
“It teaches people how to be teammates, maybe for the first time,” he said. “Winning and losing, maybe for the first time. You miss a shot, you take another one. Providing a stage for people to actually play basketball builds the future.”
The decision to bring the project to Liberty City came quickly once organizers learned the history of the center, founded by community leader Frances Henderson in a small wooden house before growing into one of Miami-Dade County’s largest youth nonprofit organizations with support from figures like Muhammad Ali and Harry Belafonte.
“It just felt like a natural fit,” Carter said. “They’ve been doing amazing things for decades. We’re lucky to just have a small part in what they’re doing in the community.”
Moments like this rarely show their meaning immediately. They show themselves quietly.
“You see a kid who maybe never played before,” Carter said. “They get excited, they want to try, they want to be part of it. Sometimes everything around the game makes it more exciting than just picking up a ball somewhere else.”
Carter said he remembers attending a youth clinic in New Jersey run by soccer legend Pelé, a moment that stuck with him years later.
“It planted seeds,” he said. “Hopefully Unrivaled coming here does the same, especially for girls in sports.”
For longtime Liberty City coach Devin Williams, the impact was visible immediately.
Williams has coached basketball and football in the neighborhood for 26 years and currently leads the Tacolcy Raiders basketball program. His teams have won 14 championships, and he won two himself as a player.
“We didn’t have anything like this,” Williams said. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this…having the athletes be so involved like this.”
Williams watched his players hoop on the new floor, waiting for their turn to move to the next station.
“This will make the kids come out more and play,” he said.
For professional WNBA player, and Unrivaled forward, Kate Martin, the meaning of a court has never been complicated.
“Getting to play with random people, it didn’t matter who it was,” Martin said. “A basketball court can be a meeting ground. It brings people together from all over.”
Martin grew up playing outside, often in her driveway, where the rules were simple. Years later, she understands what those hours built.
“I hope a lot of hard work happens here,” Martin said. “A lot of friendships. A lot of games are won. When you see a worn-down court, you know a lot of shots were put up there.”
The lessons, she said, don’t stay on the asphalt.
“Sports teach you camaraderie, working through adversity, working through setbacks,” Martin said. “Working through conflict on a basketball court will help you in real life one day.”
As kids gathered around asking questions and holding basketballs waiting to be signed, Martin recognized the same type of moment she once experienced attending youth camps growing up.
“If you see it, you can become it,” she said. “Sometimes I didn’t know if I’d be in this position. So being someone kids can talk to and feel comfortable around matters.”
Her message to them was simple.
“Work, work, work,” Martin said. “But have fun. We can be too hard on ourselves sometimes. Enjoy the moments on the court.”
