Coach Johnson from Ebbets Field Apartments

Franklin Johnson was born in the Virgin Islands into a very large family. At age 7 he moved to New York and lived in a couple of different neighborhoods. At a young age in Brownsville, he attended Shiloh where he had instructional basketball from a variety of coaches all whom came from different parts of America. The program was run by people from Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee and Illinois. Being exposed to coaches from many different states gave him the exposure to many different cultures and backgrounds which inspired him to become a coach himself.

In the early 1990’s Coach Johnson moved to Fieldbridge Associates LLC. A/K/A the Ebbets Field Apartments. As he was exposed to organized basketball at a young age, he always wanted to give back to the community. Coach has regular scheduled training in two local schools near the Ebbets Field Apartment complex with kids as young as five years old all the way through high school aged kids. His goal is more than just teaching them how to shoot a basketball; he gives them the skills they need in order to succeed on and off the court.

In addition to the coaching, he serves as a tutor to these young kids. He makes sure that the kids are able to keep their grades up in the classroom. He tries to prepare them to get into college where it is necessary to have good grades in order to stay on the universities basketball team. He himself attended a four year college in Nashville Tennessee but was unable to finish due to financial difficulties. He ended up working at a Holiday Inn for a couple of years before returning to New York.

Fieldbridge Associates LLC., where Moshe Drizin is a partner, provides a room to Coach that has multiple purposes. Coach has his office there, and that is where he keeps many of the trophies his teams have won over the years. The room also serves as a food pantry where coach volunteer’s organizing delivers and distribution of food to senior citizens. The food pantry gives out bread, canned goods and fresh produce to those in need.

Across the street from Ebbets Field Housing there is a city park. Along with 3 other Coaches, Coach Johnson runs a summer program which is his most successful program of all. He believes his success comes from daily training instead of only a couple times a week like his year round program.

Although Ebbets Field Apartments sits on the former site of a baseball field, Coach has successfully trained kids from their childhood through high school years to become excellent basketball players. He has had many success stories, and what keeps him going is seeing these youth grow up and make it into college to get a free education. He has even had two of his kids make it to the NBA, one played for the San Antonio Spurs and the other played for the Phoenix Suns.