It’s game night at Hughes Stadium, and the City College football team is taking on conference rival Sierra College. The crowd is especially fired up for this game because it’s the school’s first Nor Cal conference game of the season.
A scan of the bleachers reveals a diverse array of spectators — many different races, ages and genders. However, one fan in particular stands — or rather sits — apart from the rest. Anthony Federer, in his wheelchair, next to his mom, Susan Federer, during the game, draws attention because of the passion he exudes for City College sports.
“I don’t know how to put it in words, but it’s exciting,” Anthony says as he sits in his lime green wheelchair wearing his favorite gray City College hoodie with the school’s cardinal red “SCC” logo across the chest.
Anthony has been confined to a wheelchair his entire life, according to Susan. As a baby, Anthony was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition defined by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke as “abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements. The condition typically occurs during fetal development; before, during, or shortly after birth; or during infancy.”
According to the Center for Disease Control, cerebral palsy is “the most common motor disability in childhood,” and “1 in 323 children has been identified with CP.” In Anthony’s case his brain tells both of his legs to move at the same time, and that’s why he has to use a wheelchair, Susan explains. It also affects his speech.
“There’s times when the players don’t have the spirit to come in day in and day out, and to see Anthony’s commitment and what he has shown, they cannot complain.”
– City College running back coach, Jose Zambrano
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Susan recalls that her son endured a great deal of trauma in his first year.
“Anthony was born premature. Believe it or not, he only weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces, and he started having seizures when he was 6 months old,” Susan says. “Part of his brain didn’t fully develop; it was the part that deals with walking.”
Anthony doesn’t let his condition stop him from going to see his favorite players take the field at City College. During the fall semester he and Susan (who is taking general education courses at City College) can be seen at every football practice and every home game.
“We’ve been coming out here for about three years now. [Anthony] loves coming out to spend time with the guys and watch them,” says Susan.
Every day at 3 in the afternoon, during football practice, the team allows Anthony to be on the track near the sideline. Panthers sophomore middle linebacker Ryan Staas says Anthony is like a coach out there.
“He’s our biggest fan, always there at practice, and when we do something wrong, he lets us know,” said Staas.
The City College football coaches make sure Anthony feels like he’s part of the team. They allow him to sit near the sidelines, he congratulates the team with high-fives, and is always talking with the players on and off the field, according to Staas.
Every year since 2013 he has sat front and center in the team’s photo. This season, on the team’s picture day, which was also Anthony’s 29th birthday, the players and coaches planned something special. Before the group got together to take the picture, the team presented Anthony with a football, autographed by all the players and coaches, and a Panthers football T-shirt.
In the moments leading up to the team picture, Anthony sits waiting quietly on the track. However, after the photograph is taken, Anthony quickly turns into the young man typically fired up on the sidelines during the team’s practice and games.
“I’m excited now!” he yells. “Woo! Let’s go!”
As the team breaks apart after the photo has been taken, players walk up to Anthony, give him hugs or fist bumps and wish him a happy birthday. It’s moments like this that Anthony cherishes the most, according to Susan.
“It means the world to him — he gets real excited. I have to make a copy of the picture, and he’ll have the picture in his room,” Susan says. “It means a lot to him, and that’s what makes him feel like he’s a coach.”
The birthday gift and photo hold a special place in the players’ hearts as well.
“It was a big moment, to be able to make his day pretty much,” Staas says. “It was his birthday, and we wanted to do something special for him. He’s our biggest fan, and he’s always there for us, so we thought we should be there for him.”
There is one person at City College with whom Anthony shares a bond more than anyone else: City College running back coach Jose Zambrano. The two formed a friendship several years ago outside of Hughes Stadium, according to Anthony.
“Um, we met when I was at teen program. I was 16,” Anthony says. “I would say I’ve known him for a long time.”
They clicked right away and quickly formed a connection over sports, according to Zambrano. Since then, Zambrano and his wife have taken Anthony to see movies like “The Hulk” and “How to Train Your Dragon.”
“He talks about sports nonstop, so that’s the No. 1 thing,” Zambrano says. “But he’s very active and positive and always talking. That’s when the bonding clicked.”
When Anthony is on the field interacting with the players, his face lights up with excitement. He begins to dance in his wheelchair, and the impact the team has on him is obvious. What people don’t see, however, is the impact Anthony has on the players, according to Zambrano.
“There’s times when the players don’t have the spirit to come in day in and day out, and to see Anthony’s commitment and what he has shown, they cannot complain,” Zambrano says. “That little impact of him coming in every day sitting and watching and encouraging them during practice. It’s a big influence.”
Hughes Stadium isn’t the only place on campus where Anthony likes to watch sports. After the fall semester ends, and football is finished, Anthony and his mother take to the North Gym to watch basketball in the winter. But his favorite sport to watch at City College is softball in the spring. They play hard and are defensively well rounded, according to Anthony.
That’s not the only reason Anthony enjoys going out to watch to watch the Panthers softball team, according to Susan. “He likes to go out at watch the girls play. He flirts with them, and they have fun with him,” Susan says. “But I always tell them to treat him like any other guy who hits on them with cheesy pick-up lines.”
Anthony’s excitement for sports might not only come from all the on-field action, but also the mental aspects of athletics pique his interests.
“He’s really good with numbers and remembering things, so I think the statistics and that has a lot to do with it,” Susan says. “He loves playing with his calculator all the time, and he can read statistics and never forget them.”
In addition to watching sports, Anthony enjoys playing them as well. Every year he plays baseball at River Cats Independence Field in a league specifically designed for athletes with disabilities. It was there that Anthony met another City College coach.
“About four years ago I had the team get involved in the River Cats’ baseball league. We went out and assisted the players in the league, and Anthony was one of them,” says City College baseball coach Derek Sullivan.
The league gives Anthony a chance to go from being a spectator to being an athlete out on the field. The thing he loves most about playing baseball is being out there and throwing around the ball with others, he says.
For anyone who happens to run into Anthony at City College or during one of the many sporting events he attends, there’s something his mom would like people to know about him.
“He’s so much more than a boy in a wheelchair. He’d prefer to be treated like you would treat anybody else,” Susan says. “That goes for anybody — just because he’s in a wheelchair doesn’t mean he’s different and special, or you have to treat him differently.”
