Meet Archbishop Mitty Coach Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy is the varsity coach at Archbishop Mitty (AM) and, like most of his mentoring brethren, he brings a basketball history and background to the position but one with some unique differences.

Very early on, it was hoops, hoops, hoops for Kennedy. "I was one of the bigger kids so in first grade I played on the third grade team," he explained.

Kennedy added, "I had great coaches along the way and the biggest thing for me was the competition  -- I'm always excited about competing."

He played as a varsity member all four years on the peninsula at Serra for Coach John Grosey. After being named the West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year as both a junior and as a senior, Kennedy graduated in 1995 as the leading Padre scorer with 1,490 points.

His level of play earned him a college scholarship to Loyola Marymount in southern California, a West Coast Conference school.

During his tenure there, Kennedy played for two coaches, John Olive and Charles Bradley. What's small-world fascinating is that Mitty will participate in a Torrey Pines High (San Diego)-hosted tournament this season. Torrey Pines' coach is none other than John Olive so maybe the former mentor and protege will find themselves matching wits against each other.

After Loyola Marymount is where the arc of Kennedy's basketball life becomes really interesting. He spent six years overseas, playing four years professionally in Portugal and then two in Spain.

While abroad, Kennedy picked up a bit of Portuguese during his tenure there but then learning Spanish became a must because "my coach in Spain only spoke Spanish."

What also sets Kennedy apart from others in his profession is his long participation in the San Francisco Pro-Am league each summer. He's been playing there since 1996 although he took this past summer off due to a pending birth.

Kennedy also was a member of the Irish National team (his father was born in Ireland) attempting to qualify for an Olympic berth.

He came over to Mitty in April 2008 after coaching at Serra for a number of years. "I didn't expect to get it but thought it would be a good experience to interview," Kennedy explained.

How has that transition worked out? Mitty went the distance in 2011-12, finishing on top in the West Catholic Athletic League and then winning the playoff championships and the CCS Division II title, followed by taking the Nor-Cal and finally the CIF State D-2 championships.

In the previous season, the Monarchs finished 21-10.

So why coaching for Kennedy? "That really wasn't the plan, I actually planned to be a police officer." While waiting to be hired, he took on coaching the Serra junior varsity. Then, someone departed from a resource center position at Serra and Kennedy interviewed and was hired in that position.

It was adios to police work.

Kennedy offered, "I love the coaching and the teaching and being around basketball all day is great."

The Harvey McKay quote "find something you love to do, and you'll never work a day in your life" seems appropriate here. Maybe not every day is champagne and chocolates for Kennedy but enough certainly fit the description.