By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The clinics that basketball coaches usually attend this time of year have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped the Rio Grande Valley basketball community from networking and growing the game.
Coaches are joining forces and turning to Zoom, a video conferencing tool, to provide virtual learning opportunities on Mondays and Thursdays. Edinburg Vela boys coach Lucio Rodriguez and Edinburg High assistant boys coach Steven Guerrero spearheaded the effort, and Rodriguez presented on his team’s flow offense Monday.
Other speakers have included La Joya boys coach Eric Montalvo, who discussed transition offense, and Harlingen South boys coach Brian Molina, who presented on the Hawks’ run and jump defense. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley assistant men’s hoops coach Luke Mackay discussed skill development Thursday.
“It’s a neat thing because of the fact that no one has secrets. We’re all in this for each other, we’re all trying to grow the basketball community and carry it over to the kids,” Molina said. “It’s not just for high school coaches, it’s for any coaches out there that want to share basketball. I’m also on a Zoom meeting with a couple of coaches from the San Antonio area, a couple from Laredo … I shared the link with them and they tuned in also.”
The clinics have blossomed into quite a success, but there was some trial and error involved. Molina said before the first meeting, the coaches put the Zoom code on social media and things got a bit out of control. Now it’s an invite-only event, but anyone who wants to join can reach out to a coach and receive the meeting information.
Los Fresnos boys coach Marco Hinojosa has attended all four clinics. He said when Rodriguez and Guerrero reached out to let him know what they wanted to do, he immediately thought it was a good idea and said he would tune in. Even though he won multiple coaching awards following the 2019-20 season, Hinojosa is still taking advantage of these opportunities to learn from his peers.
“To this day, I still consider myself a student of the game. I like some of the stuff that has been shared, and I will without a doubt steal some ideas,” Hinojosa said. “What (Rodriguez and Guerrero) are doing is just great. To take the time to put something together like this for the RGV and even the state is awesome. There are some great coaches here in the Valley, and we are a tight-knit group.”
Rio Hondo boys coach Mike Alvarez also is a frequent participant, taking notes on the presentations to help build his program. He’s checking out a lot of virtual clinics that are available because of the current circumstances, and he’ll be tuning in when the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches takes its clinic to the internet May 11-17.
The TABC is teaming up with CoachTube, a website designed to offer courses to develop skills in multiple sports, to hold one-hour long presentations from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will feature more than 70 speakers from the high school, college, NBA and WNBA ranks.
“It’s been really cool to learn from our peers. It’s like going to a clinic, you pick up things and learn better ways to implement things,” Alvarez said. “We’re all anxious to get back on the court of course, but it’s important to be studying and learning, and doing things that are going to help us out. Valley basketball is growing a lot more. You’ve seen the success we’ve had in terms of kids playing at the next level and teams going further in the playoffs, and it all correlates to the coaches and the work they put in.”