A Skillful Cheerful Giver

In the Bible there's a passage that states "GOD loves a cheerful giver." ( 2 Corinthians 9:6-7) Throughout my years mentoring, coaching and teaching our youth in Basketball and Life, I have only found a handful of men and women who exemplify a similar genuine love and passion for the youth, basketball and mostly the LORD. That was until I crossed paths with Coach Mike Lynch. Coach Lynch has been coaching basketball for more than twenty years. Nineteen of those years were spent at Price High school (Los Angeles), where Coach Lynch lead teams that were able to capture 11 league championships, 10 CIF titles, 8 regional championships and 6 state championships. He has been honored as Coach of the Year by the CIF in 1999, along with achieving The Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. In addition, he's been named The Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year, Two-Time Wave Newspaper Coach of the Year, and 2016 Star-News Coach of the Year.

In his first year coaching at La Salle High School, the boys varsity basketball program did something they hadn't done in over 5 decades: make it to a CIF championship game. With all the success Coach Lynch has had (his response to aforementioned success), players' talent level, his schemes, strategies and X's and O's-- he humbly defers all credit to the LORD. And if you ask him about the development of players, his face lights up like a kid on Christmas. Helping youth develop in life as well as basketball has always been his passion. This, combined with his love of the game, birthed "A Coach Is, Inc.," a non-profit basketball academy with an emphasis on learning the entire basic structure of basketball. When asked what prompted him to start "A Coach Is," he replied "I founded 'A Coach Is Inc.' because I saw a huge need for getting coaches to realize how powerful their role is in the lives of their athletes. I want to mentor coaches so that they can understand the who, what, and why they are 'called' to coach. Whether they know it or not, coaching is a 'calling' that should not be taken for granted. The impact that it has on the lives of young people can be life-changing."

I truly believe that with the emergence of AAU basketball, the number of teams really outnumber good structure and coaching. The volunteer, dad coach or park rep lack a lot of what "A Coach Is" would have to offer. This would be a great resource for coaches to utilize while being mentored by one of most successful high school coaches in California. Q: How will your academy translate directly to player development? "The Basketball I.Q. Training Academy is an offshoot program under 'A Coach Is.' Its purpose is to develop the skill level of athletes from grades 3 through 10 by training them in the fundamentals of the game. At the same time, I am coaching the coaches who train the kids. I help them to develop techniques that will assist the athlete with their skills but also teach them how to build their self-confidence. For me it’s a 'two-for one' training program. Through the academy, the athlete will not only learn, improve, and master the basics of the game, but they will also learn life lessons like team, hard work and unselfishness. My goal is to help them to become not just better ball players, but better people too."

The next session of Lynch’s Basketball IQ Training Academy starts on Sept. 10 at La Salle High School, 3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Pasadena, for any parents of youth third through tenth-grade. For more information, email acoachisinc@gmail.com or visit www.acoachis.org.

"I have a passion to see young people thrive in the game that they love so much and apply what they learn to their lives to become the best they can be on and off the court." --Coach Mike Lynch