A basketball court at Hill Crest Knolls Park in San Leandro is a dream five years in the making. It all started with a simple letter written by a fourth grader that has now become a reality.
A three-pointer use to be a lot harder to make for 15-year-old Gianardo Fiero, known as Gio to make. Largely because he didn’t have a three-point line to shoot from.
“I wanted that three-point line because this is like my training ground. It’s the main park that I practice at,” he said.” So, and I want to go to the NBA. So, I needed the best possible court to have to improve my training.”
Fiero wrote a letter back in 2020, asking the San Leandro Mayor to make court renovations at a local park. It was part of a writing assignment from his mom during the pandemic.
“In my best fourth grade writing, I was really just saying can I please have a three-point line,” he said.
The young athlete trained on the court around four times a week.
Fiero wrote a letter every couple of weeks for years to multiple officials until he finally got a response from the city of San Lorenzo in 2023.They directed him to Hayward Area Recreational Parks District, which provides services for unincorporated areas of Alameda County, where the parks located.
Fiero followed up and General Manager James Wheeler responded.
“Part of it was kind of shaming me into going, why does mine look so bad? Part of it was just his pure passion and desire to play basketball,” Wheeler said.
Fiero’s letter turned into a $300,000 renovation that includes a new court and walking path.
“This one was not on the list,” Wheeler said. “We have about a billion in need, so without people like Gio, when I walked up I said thank you, without people from the community telling us what they need, we prioritize based upon our parks master plan.”
It’s another slam dunk for Fiero, who has dreams of playing in the NBA and for his mom, whose cheering him on.
“It was many, many years of us following up and that was also part of the lesson, just being persistent 23:32 and also having patience at the same time, I’m very proud,” said Kerry Fiero, Gio’s mom.
It’s a lesson in speaking up and always taking the shot that Fiero hopes will now inspire others.
“If you don’t try you are never going to get your voice heard. Always if there is something that you need or want to change, just speak up about it,” he said.
