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A wave of kids ran across the gym floor, yelling their heads off.
But nobody
told the boisterous bunch to be quiet. In fact, the coach told
them to
make more noise. They weren’t loud enough. So the kids did it again
and really went wild, winning the approval of coach Tony Freccero.
Freccero, believe it or not, really wants to teach kids the
fundamentals of basketball, but that doesn’t mean the lessons have
to be boring. “You have to keep the kids motivated and excited,”
Freccero said during a five-minute break. But the coach has a reason
behind that motivation, something that’s compelled him to hold
basketball clinics such as the one this week at Assumption School.
American basketball players aren’t learning the fundamentals, he
believes. “Europeans are taking over the NBA,” he said. “They
have 7-footers who can dribble the length of the floor.
Freccero, who is a substitute teacher in the San Leandro
schools, played basketball for Bishop O’Dowd High and Cal State
Hayward.
He’s
currently an
assistant coach with the O’Dowd boys’ basketball team. He
laughs about his professional career in the Australian National
Basketball League. “I played for the Sydney Kings…for three
games,” he chuckled. “Then they told me to go back to
America.” But the brief stay in Australia wasn’t the trip that
really inspired Freccero. He said he got more out of a later
excursion to Brazil, the home of his girlfriend, Joana. He helped
run a basketball clinic in Rio de Janeiro, even though he didn’t
speak the language. “Basketball is the universal language,”
Freccero said. He was inspired by the kids who showed up at
the clinic. “Some of the kids didn’t even have shoes,” he
said. “They have poverty like we never imagine.” But in
a country dominated by soccer, the kids’ enthusiasm for basketball
touched Freccero. He decided to start his own basketball
academy here, which he named the Triple Threat Academy.
 Assumption
Athletic Director Jim Leahy let him us the school’s gym. The kids at
the clinic come from Assumption School, St. Leander’s, Bancroft
Middle School, Roosevelt Elementary and other schools. They
learned defensive skills and the fundamentals of making a good shot.
“Some of you came in here this morning putting up shots like this,”
said Freccero, taking a wild hook shot, “because that’s what you saw
on TV.” Then the kids learned how to follow through and put
some backspin on the ball when they take a shot. Sometimes the
kids get the idea but not the entire concept. For instance,
when the coach asked why you should put backspin on the ball, one of
the players answered, “Because that’s what you want to do.”The coach
replied with an approving, “Good answer!”
© 2003-2007 Triple Threat Academy. All rights reserved.
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