Farewell Pharms: The last of the Pharms family graduates from Stagg High school

For 12 years Franquell Moppins has played a key role in Stagg High School athletics.

She’s not a coach, a teacher, or an advisor but a team mom dedicated to the success and well-being of Delta Kings across all sports.

The 45-year-old mom and caregiver raised five kids in brown and gold, starting from her first son, Patriots defensive end Jeremiah Pharms Jr. to her last, senior Jameelah Pharms.

Over the 12 years, the Pharms family has become a staple at Stagg, bringing a family feel to any sport they participated in.

With the last of the family graduating this spring it’ll soon be farewell Pharms, leaving a void of talent, nurturing, and dedication to Stagg athletics.

“Stagg has been a really positive influence in my life,” Moppins said. “Like, I’m a single mom with five kids, so it’s hard trying to get in and pay for sports and things like that. Anything that we may need as a family, they'll make sure they help out it’s like a family. It was just like seeing a need, picking it up, and just doing it.”

Setting the example she didn’t have

Growing up attending Valley High School in Sacramento, Moppins grew her love for sports on the track field mainly as a shotput and discus thrower. Her experiences there helped mold her into the person she is today.

“Because my parents never attended anything, I believe that's the reason why I made sure my kids never have to feel what I felt,” Moppins said. “It wasn’t a good feeling but I had my brother there and other parents at my high school who took to me and made sure I was okay.”

Having those close to her play a parental role for her made it easy for Moppins to do the same once her kids started playing sports at Stagg. Her sons Jeremiah and Jabarii played football, basketball and track, while her daughters Jasmine, Janelle and Jameelah played basketball, volleyball, track, golf and girls' flag football.

No matter the sport, Moppins was there at the games cheering on the Delta Kings. It didn’t matter if it was tournament play, summer league, preseason, or playoffs — she was the one parent coaches could count on to show up.

“She’s so passionate about kids in sports, I mean she’s just so committed to our program,” said Finnis Jones’ Stagg girls’ basketball head coach. “There have been times when she's the only parent in the stands, especially when I first started with this program.

"She’ll do anything for Stagg basketball and Stagg in general.”

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Stagg through and through

When she’s not at a Stagg sporting event or watching her other kids play college ball, she’s the behind-the-scenes person for various Stagg events. This started once she connected with longtime football head coach Don Norton who would coach both of her sons and a handful of her family members from Stockton.

From her first son's season as a Delta King, Moppins became a do-it-all person for the program. Whether it was running snack booths, driving vans or bringing snacks for players who hadn’t eaten that day, she answered the call.

That carried over to the school’s basketball programs where she was in charge of setting up hospitality rooms for the boys and girls.

“It’s not just about her kids, it’s about all the kids at Stagg High School that she cares about,” Norton said. “Like, she'll come to the baseball games and softball games, the track meets — she helps with the track meets and I’ve even seen her at school plays too. It's really rare to find parents that are like that but that’s what makes Franquell Stagg athletics.”

Her commitment to Stagg athletics has helped influence other parents to get involved, especially for girls' sports, like basketball.

“We’ve seen parents support grow, obviously, that has a lot to do with our success on the court but it’s the off-the-court stuff that gets us there,” Jones said. “Franquell has been a model for that and she’s been the example. A lot of parents now are trying to copy and replicate what Franquell is doing now.”

‘It’s always just been me and her’

Stagg girls basketball won’t be the same without the Pharms family who has set school records with both Jasmine and recently Jameelah.

The senior guard played a key role in helping her team go back to back as San Joaquin Athletic Association champs, something the program had never done before.

With the season over and just a couple of months left to her senior year, Stagg will soon be Pharmless; Moppins will be without her ‘mini-me.’

“It’s always just been me and her,” Moppins said. “From her city league to AAU, to when she played circuit and now high school, and it's just been her and I. So it’s like now it’s coming to a time where one day we will have to go our separate ways.”

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The Delta Queens senior night against Chavez on Feb. 7 made Moppins one step closer to that day. The Pharms family couldn’t contain the tears and just the thought of the distance makes the mother-daughter duo emotional. Jameelah is still undecided on where she’ll be taking her talents, but no matter the destination, the move-out process will surely end in waterworks.

“She’s always been there for me, especially like being the only parent that I've had growing up,” Pharms said. “The support system she gives on her own, like, I can feel her presence in the stands during my games. It’s going to suck to not have her there when I’m at college but I know she'll be there in spirit.”

Once she does find a college basketball program to call home she will be the fourth in her family to play at the collegiate level and the fifth to pursue a college degree. Against all odds, Moppins, with the help of her Stagg village, has set an example for parents across the 209 with kids playing high school sports.

She will look to continue to be an advocate for Stagg athletics and other local high school athletics after Jameelah graduates.

“Giving God all the glory is a great statement because I’m listening to the background noise of 'Stop having kids', you know, like single moms issues and things like that,” Moppins said. “When people are telling me I couldn’t do it or telling my kids they couldn’t do it, it’s just a beautiful thing to understand that they don’t have our lives in their hands. That’s all God’s will.”

Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: 'She is Stagg Athletics': Franquell Moppins' unique role at Stagg