If you like basketball, you’ve probably heard of the Bronx’s star player and now coach, John D. Coffino. After all, he has worked as a coach all over the world, including the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. His experience and ability to find a way to approach the players have allowed him to rise to the top. Find out more about one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA, John D. Coffino, at i-bronx.com.
Life in the Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s
According to cheshire-live.co.uk, John D. Coffinno was born on November 7, 1962, in the Italian neighborhood of the Bronx. He grew up with three sisters and three brothers, one of whom died in Vietnam in 1970.
The 1970s and 1980s were a time of instability, the spread of drug addiction, the rise of crime and the emergence of gangs in the Bronx. Besides, the neighborhood where Coffino resided was a melting pot of representatives of all ethnicities and cultures, who, so to speak, “melted in the vast cauldron of New York”. Therefore, the ability to interact with others was an essential skill for every Bronx resident at the time. A basketball court provided an opportunity to bring together people of different interests and values. Even though there were disagreements and even fighting with African Americans, it was possible to achieve a compromise on the court. Coffino acknowledged that the Bronx is a tough neighborhood, but he was able to avoid a considerable number of problems that could have arisen on the city’s streets owing to basketball. Living in the Italian district, for instance, meant that you couldn’t visit nearby neighborhoods. A person who came to the Italian neighborhood from another area was likewise anticipated to face physical violence.
How school and basketball brought different people together
John D. Coffino stated that basketball was a part of his life thanks to his school. It was a public school that was close to his house. The institution was home to a wide range of criminal activity, including drug trafficking. However, there were some advantages, such as the fact that the school had eight basketball rings, which meant that every youngster could spend time there from 6 a.m. and up until 2 a.m. John recalled that the boys were even yelled at to go home by residents of the adjacent houses.
It was around this time that African Americans came to play as well. They intended to keep John from playing, so they took off the rings, leaving only one. It was later taken away as well. Coffino found a way out. He put hard mesh trash cans near the fence and threw a ball at them. He and his friends also played snowballs and did other things.
Relationships with African Americans were complicated. The advantage for John was that he went to a public school instead of a Catholic one and thus knew African Americans. This allowed him to walk around the neighborhoods freely. He occasionally went around with friends, and then there were situations when he had to decide whether to fight or leave his friends. He learned how to get along with everyone and train with people from all cultural backgrounds thanks to these experiences.
When traveling to matches with players at the start of his coaching career, he used his talent to bring different people together. There, white people sat with white people and black people with black. Coffino came to the conclusion that things needed to change and that there had to be a means of uniting different people. The team is supposed to be stronger when the players can get along off the court.
Another difficulty was bringing together boys from the suburbs who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth and guys from the central part of the city, where nearly no one had a father. It wasn’t easy, but basketball was the unifying factor.
Career in the USA
After high school, John D. Coffino attended St. Peter’s College in New Jersey. His coaching career began at Westchester Community College, where he worked from 1992 to 1997. Even back then, his coaching star shone brightly because he was able to connect with different people and see potential in junior and senior college students. In 1993, his efforts enabled the college team to proceed to the National Junior College Association tournament. In the 2000s, he worked as an assistant coach at Niagara University, St. Peter’s College and later as head coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds for several years.
International coaching. Qatar and Kenya
The skills and experience of John D. Coffino drew the attention of worldwide sports managers, and he was called to work in Qatar in 2011. There, he spent a year serving as the head of the Qatar Sports Club. After that, he returned to the United States.
After a short break, John relocated to Kenya, where he coached and served as the director of basketball operations at Dankind Academy in Nairobi. The team won the national championship under his leadership.
These were, in his opinion, the best and worst times since he had to learn again how to coach. One of the disadvantages was that the weekly wage was only $70, and there was frequently no electricity or water, therefore, no opportunity to take a shower. The fans didn’t work either, and the mosquitoes were horrible. He once had to call off a game because he couldn’t get a herd of goats off the court. The sticks didn’t help either. One day, on his way home, a monkey descended from a tree and snatched a bag of food from his hands. Following the devastating terrorist attack on the Westgate Shopping Center in September 2013, in which 71 people were killed, John was forced to end his employment in Nairobi. One of the victims was a girl he coached.
Working with the Cheshire Phoenix
Coffino’s ambition to travel, see the world and work in different places prompted him to move on, and he became the head coach of the British Basketball League team Cheshire Phoenix in June 2014. Upon hearing the news, several basketball players and officials immediately complimented the Cheshire Phoenix on hiring a wonderful coach, teacher, someone of exceptional honesty and other positive qualities. Furthermore, NBA legend Jeff Ruland stated that he has known John for over 20 years and that Coffino works hard and knows how to get along with people, thus Cheshire was fortunate with this pick.
In 2014, Phoenix won eight games in a row in a month, and Coffino was named the Molten BBL Coach of the Month. Additionally, he was named the best coach of Cheshire over the past decade.
Working in Europe
Later on, he worked in Georgia. It began in the summer of 2015. Coffino was named head coach of the Georgian Superliga club BC Sukhumi. Later, in Georgia, he worked at the Europe Basketball Academy. He was also invited to work at QSI International School of Tbilisi. For four years, his team took first place. Coffino was also the Supervisor of Basketball Coaches at the Zaza Pachulia Basketball Academy in Tbilisi at the time.
In 2018, John D. Coffino visited the Maldives, where he coached the men’s national team for the Republic of the Maldives. It was, in his words, “a job in Paradise.” After all, life in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the culture as a whole were truly remarkable. However, it was a Muslim country with particular traditions and customs that were difficult for a foreigner to adjust to. There was a distinct meal schedule in particular, so players couldn’t eat or drink until the sun rose. People were also different. His players were persistent, polite and disciplined, but they were also kind, and as a coach, you must be tough on the court.
After that, he worked in Denmark for a year before returning to the United States.