North Penn girls inspired by student manager

Ten cups. There always has to be 10 cups.

That's the way Rachel Grace, the manager for the North Penn girls' basketball team, likes it.

Or rather, that's what coach Maggie deMarteleire prefers, and similar to the mind-set of a successful player, Grace does what her coach asks of her.

Over the course of a game, the conscientious Grace immediately greets each player who is subbed out with water. During timeouts, she supplies the cups as soon as the whistle blows. Then she's back, meticulously filling the cups throughout the entirety of the contest.

The routine starts with about 15 minutes until game time. After spending time greeting and hugging fans - she seems to know everyone who walks into the gymnasium at home games - Grace goes to the big water jug toward the end of the bench and gets to work.

When she goes into the locker room at halftime, her mother, Deb, takes over.

A few weeks ago - the only contest this season Deb missed - she texted her husband, Tom, to make sure he would step in.

"We like to say we are the most hydrated team in the league," Deb Grace joked. "You don't see a thirsty girl out there."

Grace, 20, has Down syndrome and is in her fifth year at North Penn, her third as the manager. She graduated with her class in 2014 but is a part of a post-12 opportunity that allows students to participate in work study.

"Everyone knows Rachel around North Penn, she lights up the school," said Erin Maher, now a sophomore at Philadelphia University. "She always puts a smile on everyone's face."

Before she became a manager, Rachel - who goes by RG and calls the players by their initials, too - was a cheerleader. When it seemed as if the team wouldn't have the numbers needed to continue, Melanie Seeders, then an assistant athletic director, came up with an idea.

"I bet you'd be good at this," Deb remembers Seeders telling Rachel.

Seeders was right.

"We wouldn't be where we are without Rachel," junior Sam Carangi said. "She's so enthusiastic. She's always positive, never negative."

From the beginning, the partnership was a natural fit. Rachel started playing basketball when she was 5 years old and has participated in the Special Olympics since she was 11. It's obvious how much she loves the sport as she watches from the sideline, engrossed in every moment of the game.

"I love it a lot," Rachel said. "I got this big chance to be a part of this team and I think that is really cool."

The sport is one of Rachel's two main loves, the other being music. Last summer at Penn State, Tom Grace coached the sharpshooting guard and her squad to a gold medal.

It isn't the only hardware in Rachel's room.

Two seasons ago, the Maidens captured the District 1 Class 4A championship for the first time in program history. There, Rachel stood half court at Villanova in a line with the team as they received medals and posed for pictures.

"They make her such a part of it," Tom Grace said. "The girls are awesome. Coach Maggie is incredible."

This season is her last with the team, as Rachel is planning to go to East Stroudsburg next year as a part of a three-year certificate program where she will live independently and audit classes. It's a big step for Grace, one that her parents attribute to her experience with the Maidens as well as the school as a whole.

"It kind of does make me feel sad - me leaving - but going off to college is one of the biggest things of my life," Rachel said, flashing her infectious grin.

A few mornings each week, Rachel meets Carangi, Mikaela Giuliani, Jess Huber, and others to walk to deMarteleire's office before school starts.

Sure "RG" fills the cups, collects the basketballs and occasionally gives the team halftime pep talks, but when she is walking the hallways of North Penn with SC, MG, and JH she's just another kid, on her way to see her coach.