President Obama had made increasing the participation in community service one of the many focuses of his new administration. There certainly is an ever-increasing need for such volunteerism and many are hearing this righteous call and stepping forward. However, Bay Area Hoosier Coach Mark Perelman raised his hand close to two decades ago when a want was brought to his attention and he's still going strong working with Bay Area youth.
Perelman was raised in southern California but graduated from UC Berkeley with a political science degree, followed by a law degree from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Currently, he is a partner in the firm of Murphy, Pearson, Bradley and Feeney, also in San Francisco.
But way back in 1990, he began his avocation -- at least the one that takes up the most time -- coaching youth basketball. It began at the now-defunct educational startup called the New Learning School, located in proximity to the YMCA on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco's Tenderloin area.
"One of my law partners who was on the school board asked if I would coach basketball for the school." Perelman related, adding "I was surprised and thinking about it when he added 'I hope you'll agree because I told them [the other board members] you would do it.'"
Thus began his basketball coaching tenure at the New Learning School. His team practiced and played at the nearby YMCA.
Bob Drucker (aka The Wizard of Westlake), a legendary coach at St. Ignatius for more than two decades, was instrumental in Perelman's success during the stint. "I had helped Bob during a summer camp so I called him right after I accepted the coaching job," Perleman said, "and he gave me a bunch of coaching material."
It was Drucker who also provided the golden rule to the novice coach. "Bob said, 'always remember you're doing it for the kids.'"
Perelman kept that as his focus. "I was just past 30, a white Jewish guy stepping into this crucible, and many of the kids had almost no skills and very little direction," he said. "I knew I would lose them if I took the approach of let's learn how to run the motion offense or the 2-2-1 zone press. It was hard enough to get the kids to show up on time so life issues became the real focus, not basketball. The kids didn't have the means to address their issues so we made character development and responsibility the foremost subjects. I was a basketball coach and counselor."
The school closed after three years but the inviting yet slippery slope Perelman inched out on then morphed into more. He stayed on for the next decade as the YMCA club basketball instructor. All sorts of youngsters turned out, eventually including some college players.
His allegiance to the organization eventually extended even further as he has been the Golden Gate Avenue branch Chairman of the YMCA Board of Managers the last six years and on the board for a decade and a half.
After his coaching tenure at the YMCA, Perelman then joined the basketball coaching staff at Sacred Heart Cathedral, one of the schools making up the West Catholic Athletic League.
Now he is part of the coaching staff of the Bay Area Hoosiers club team organization. Consider that in the field of law, representing a plaintiff or defendant free of cost is described as pro bono, meaning for the public good. Perelman's taken that to the basketball court and the verdict is a successful one, for all involved.
It's been about relationships via basketball and basketball via relationships all along because, besides helping kids develop, one of the ironic twists of this tale is that current Bay Area Hoosier Director of Basketball Operations Philippe Doherty assisted Perelman in the YMCA basketball play. "I also coached Phil's best friend," Perelman added and eventually it was Doherty who brought Perelman into the Hoosiers organization.
So why did his coaching efforts evolve to a position with Hoosiers? The answer, or at least part of it, derived from Perelman's initial entry into coaching.
"Because the Hoosier focus is on teaching the kids to be better basketball players rather than winning games or tournaments," Perelman said. "The training is built around empowering the kids. We give the players a framework, some simple but strict guidelines so that they can determine how to react in a given situation on the court. That has them take responsibility for their own skill development and allows them to develop their own basketball IQ. This approach makes the individual personally responsible for his personal success or failure."
But in what has always been Perelman's approach to life in general, "it's been a learning process both ways and it continues to be. I always want to learn new things about basketball but also about listening better and relating to people. I constantly ask myself, 'how can I convince this person that what I have to say might be interesting?' 'how am I being listened to?' what are the techniques to learn about how to approach people?' By me listening and acting as a sounding board when I am coaching, that let's the kids take responsibility."
This approach obviously also benefits his lawyer trade in developing relationships with clients, judges and juries.
This method also aids in a player developing his basketball smartness. Perelman's take is youngsters shouldn't necessarily be proscribed exactly what to do and how to handle a certain situation. "That makes it too rigid and guys don't learn how to play because you don't give them the responsibility to assess what is happening on the court. I want players to assess what is taking place and determine how to succeed or fail rather than 'do this and only this because I said so.'"
He recalls, "I still remember going to a John Wooden (his next door neighbor) basketball camp when I was 13. First, he explained how to put on our shoes and socks, then he gave a lecture on success which he defined as the peace of mind which is the direct result of the self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable. He never talked about winning or losing but how you are responsible for best preparing yourself. It's a philosophy based not on results but on working hard and it made me personally responsible for my success or failure."
To this day, Perelman said, "If I really work as hard as I can and do the best to prepare, then I can live with whatever results."
One outgrowth of this philosophy was never more solidly illuminated when Perelman and a parent of one of the players took about 20 Hoosier team members to a Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n' Waffles restaurant after a game in Los Angeles. "We walked into this restaurant, all these tall teenagers, and took over seven or eight booths. The people working there looked nervous. But it was all 'yes ma'am, no ma'am' because the kids knew what to do and how to act -- they were used to taking responsibility for their behavior on and off the court. That's the first step at becoming an adult."
Perelman continued, "Later on a security guard told me that he didn't normally let that many teenagers come in at once and the manager said the guys acted like perfect gentlemen and that he was pleased to have them."
Perelman added, "What's great is when you see a groups of kids taking real steps as young men because it's about young people being responsible for themselves and their teammates' behavior and actions. That and seeing a kid I coached back in the 90s getting his doctorate in applied math or getting invited to the wedding of another former player. That's why I stay hooked into this. Plus, the kids are hysterical, they keep me in stitches."
The latter was never more true than during that visit to Roscoe's. With the players more familiar and certainly more comfortable with eating accommodations like Panda Express or any number of pizza places, the concept of going to a sit-down place that served the seemingly unusual food combination of what the name implies prompted one of the young Hoosiers to say "but that would be like pancakes and tri tip."
The kids loved the food.
It's all pretty heady stuff for someone who has always loved the game despite some physical limitations. "I played basketball as a kid in Los Angeles," Perelman said. "But I was too short for my speed so playing at Cal was out of the question."
So Cal's loss became the community's gain.
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