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By Jose Alfredo Flores
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, December 8, 2000; Page D09

Tom O'Mara's job finally got easier. For years the athletic director at Washington International struggled to find gymnasiums for the school's basketball practice.

They settled for sub-standard facilities--some with slippery floors and bent rims, others with poor heating, or nonregulation sized courts and dim lighting. When no gyms were available the players were forced to practice outdoors under windy conditions, sometimes shoveling snow out of the way just so they could dribble the ball.

Those days are now just stories from the past with the opening of the Arts and Athletics Center this past summer, the first gym on the property of the 34-year-old small Northwest Washington private school. O'Mara sometimes has to pinch himself now that his dream of having a home venue has become a reality.

"It's hard to believe the things we used to do in the past," said O'Mara, who also coaches the boys varsity basketball team. "Not having a gym was a way of life. Whenever we played other schools we were the brunt of a lot of jokes. Now it's hard to believe that we won't have to go through that any more."

Washington International's gymnasium is a $4.6 million project that took a year to build but nearly a decade to fund. Before 1991, when Anne-Marie Pierce took over as head of the school, fundraising was nearly unheard of at Washington International. So Pierce made it one of her top goals to build a gymnasium.

All the while, the Washington International basketball teams brought home Potomac Valley Athletic Conference championships despite not having home games on campus nor the luxury of adequate practice time.

"It's amazing that we were able to do what we did without a gym," said Alan Krechting, a member of the 1993 PVAC boys basketball championship team and the Red Devils' all-time leading scorer with over 1,500 points. "This could have helped us out a lot. No need to practice outdoors when it's 10 degrees with frostbitten fingers. Give it a couple of years and this school could draw more basketball-oriented students and then the program will grow to a higher level."

The girls varsity basketball team played the first basketball game in the new gym on Nov. 29 in front of a small but boisterous home crowd of 50 people (in the 260-seat facility). The players looked into the crowd numerous times and seemed astonished to see faculty, friends and family--many of them at one of their games for the first time.

The fans applauded after good plays and waved their homeland flags. Washington International lost, 52-29, to a more talented team from Takoma Academy, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.

"Having a home crowd was certainly a change for us," junior captain Janyne Quarm said. "It will take some time to get used to, but it's certainly better than what we used to have."

Last week Jocelyn Quarm, a member of the 1995 PVAC champion girls varsity team, watched her younger sister, Janyne, play in the home gym she always wanted.

"I really envy my sister," said Jocelyn, who averaged 20 points over her varsity career. "They have the opportunity to have access to a luxury we never had. It was a ritual every day just to practice."

With a gym on campus, the number of girls interested in playing basketball as well as volleyball has risen. Both programs fielded junior varsity teams for the first time. Volleyball, which finished 2-11, would practice outdoors in a sand court on campus.

The most intriguing Washington International basketball practice site was the Russian Embassy compound used during the 1995-96 season. In exchange for practice time at the Embassy's indoor court, British math teacher Neil MacDonald would teach a weekly English conversation and American social studies course to the residents of the Russian compound. MacDonald was paid by the Washington International athletics department for his services since the Russian Embassy refused to take money for gym rental. Armed guards escorted the basketball teams into the compound and the players were watched at all times.

"It was tense practicing under the eyes of a Russian guard with a rifle in his hand," O'Mara said.

The school no longer has to worry about costly gym rentals, which ranged from $40 to $70 per hour and could total nearly $3,000 per season. The Arts and Athletics Center features the "Hall of Peace" in the lobby, where 100 miniature flags representing the home countries of the school's diverse student body hang from the ceiling. The basement level of the four-story facility holds the basketball court, showers, locker rooms and a weight room. The top two levels have a computer room, a photography dark room, rooms for art and music classes and music rehearsal rooms.

"This gym brings prestige to the school," said junior captain Pascal Noel, whose boys team won its first home game over Yeshiva, 44-22, on Dec. 3 in front of 100 fans. "My friends used to laugh at me since we had no gym. But now we have the most beautiful gym around."