“You couldn’t ask for a better two guys to be a part of program than Matthew and Andrew,” said varsity head coach Paul Page. “They are, I want to say, the backbone of our basketball program.”
In 2013, the Reyna’s became managers for the team, and showed their worth immediately.
“Anything we need, they’re right there,” freshman head coach Shannon Beeles said. “As quick as we say it, they’ve got in done just about.”
In December of that year, the boys lost their father, yet still showed up to practices and games. So Coach Beeles and the team decided that the twins had earned the right to suit up, from there the boys stole the show hitting five three-pointers combined in a single game versus Lubbock High.
Today, the Reyna’s are still managers for the team, still work just as hard, and certainly still have confidence.
“Oh I think I’m very important to the team,” Andrew said. “Because I’m always on time, I help the coach do the things that he needs me to do, I’m always at practice when asked to do.”
The team treats the twins just like family, and the boys say they couldn’t ask for anything more.
“It means a lot to me,” Matthew said. “These guys remind me a lot of my dad. They, ever since I’ve lost my dad, they’ve been close to me and I won’t ever change the world for these men. These guys have taught us ‘we care about you and we want you to be apart of a team.'”
And even with autism, these twins have high aspirations molded in part due to their time with the Tiger basketball team.
“The future for me holds, I either want to be a teacher, a principal or a coach, I’m not sure which one it’s going to be,” Andrew said.
“If not the mayor, then I’ll go and find something else,” Matthew said.
Every year, one in every 68 kids is diagnosed with autism, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, but a set of twins at Frenship High won’t let that stop them from being involved with the Tiger basketball team.
