The court is hardly the only forum in which the Nansemond River High School girls’ basketball team has made its presence known this season.

Coach R. Calvin Mason Sr. has his Lady Warriors once again making an impact in their community.

“As far as understanding the needs of others and giving back to the community that we live in, to me, this is what I’ve tried to stress since I’ve been coaching the girls’ program at Nansemond,” said Mason, now in his ninth year with the Lady Warriors. “We’ve always done community service projects.”

Three years ago, the team “adopted” a Suffolk family in need, the Meeks, and made an effort to ensure its Christmas was special by purchasing, wrapping and delivering gifts.

Rather than making it a one-year event, the Lady Warriors have stuck with the Meeks family, which includes two young children.

“This is our third year, and we’re trying to hold on to them until they don’t need us anymore, so hopefully that’ll come to pass, but if not, we want to be there for them, and we try to do a little something all year ‘round,” Mason said.

On Christmas day, Mason took two of his players, Aneka Yelverton and Cassidy Simmons, and they delivered this year’s load of presents from the team, continuing their relationship with the children.

“This has given us an opportunity to see them grow, how much they’ve grown, and it’s very rewarding for the girls,” Mason said. “They did an outstanding job again.”

Simmons said, “It makes me feel good that I can see the smiles on their faces when they get their gifts.”

She noted everybody on the team got items for the family, some able to purchase presents on their own, others enlisting their parents for help.

Naturally, toys and games were included in the group of presents, “but we concentrate on clothes and just providing the basic things that they’re going to need for school,” Mason said. “Clothing and so forth is what children need more than anything else.”

The team is also looking to serve its community in other ways in 2016.

“This year, we’ve got a project coming up the first week of January — we’re going to have our first Girl Scout Night on the seventh when we play Lakeland,” Mason said. “And then on the eighth, we’re going to do a (basketball) clinic, and we’re going to help (the Girl Scouts) with the cookie rally.”

Later this month, the Lady Warriors will also have a game dedicated to breast cancer awareness, and later in the season, they will participate in a canned food drive.