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 Queens hoops leaders up for big award 
 Pair of youth basketball coaches among 12 finalists for Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year 
 BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED 
 A  pair  of  Queens  youth  
 basketball  coaches  were  
 announced  as  two  of  five  
 finalists for the Jr. Knicks  
 Coach of the Year Award,  
 presented by Hospital for  
 Special Surgery.  
 Joann  Pinnock,  of  
 Springfield  Gardens,  and  
 Jason Curry, who grew up  
 in  Richmond  Hill  and  South  
 Ozone Park, share the love  
 of  basketball  and  supporting  
 athletes  of  all  levels  both  on  
 and off the court.  
 Pinnock, a varsity coach for  
 The Mary Louis Academy in  
 the Jamaica Estates, has been  
 serving her local community for  
 almost 30 years, where she runs  
 her program, Positive Direction.  
 “I  started  Positive  
 Direction in 1991 as a nonprofit  
 organization for both boys and  
 girls, where we start at age  
 4 and go all the way up to 17  
 years old,” said Pinnock. “We  
 have a fundamental program  
 teaching children how to play,  
 and  we  have  travel  teams  
 where they can participate and  
 compete on a higher level.”  
 According  to  Pinnock,  the  
 children travel on tournaments  
 within and outside of New York  
 City, as well as New Orleans  
 and North Carolina, where they  
 have the opportunity to compete  
 and play in front of college  
 coaches for scholarships. The  
 program also provides tutoring  
 and mentoring for kids with  
 their academics.  
 Jason  Curry  (r.),  founder  and  president  of  Big  Apple  Basketball,  
 which  has  grown  steadily,  launching  a  full  slate  of  athletic  and  
 educational programming and events in April 2003.     
           Photo courtesy of Jason Curry 
 Pinnock learned the game  
 of  basketball  from  her  father  
 at a young age, and she is  
 motivated  everyday  to  teach  
 the game to others.  
 “I love what I do. I love  
 teaching  making  sure  the  
 kids not only love the game of  
 basketball,  but  learning  the  
 game  of  life,”  said  Pinnock.  
 “My goal isn’t to see how many  
 championships we win, but  
 to see how many successful  
 young men and young ladies  
 we can have to produce from  
 our  program...it’s  something  
 to watch because basketball  
 started it, but it teaches  
 other  life  skills  that’s  very  
 important.” 
 Additionally, her biggest  
 influence in the community is  
 supporting fund-raising efforts  
 for The Lupus Foundation of  
 America and developing Ladies  
 Only  mentoring  sessions,  
 where women empower each  
 other and talk about their  
 experience playing high school  
 and college level basketball.  
 Meanwhile,  Jason  Curry  
 —founder and president of  
 Big Apple Basketball, which  
 serves 350 kids between the  
 ages of 7 to 18 years old — has  
 been helping to build strong  
 communities  by  reaching  out  
 to other community groups.  
 Curry founded Big Apple  
 Basketball  in  1999  hoping  
 to  assist  young  people  in  
 their athletic, educational,  
 professional, and life skill  
 development, while providing  
 family  and  community  
 focused programs and events.  
 Additionally, Curry launched  
 the youth program in 2003,  
 which includes free clinic  
 services  to  underprivileged  
 children who may not normally  
 be able to afford them.  
 “There are various things  
 we do under the umbrella of our  
 youth programs. Currently we  
 have  a high  school  challenge,  
 an  high  school  invitational,  
 and a basketball training and  
 mentoring  program,  running  
 under the umbrella of Big  
 Apple Basketball,” said Curry.  
 For Curry, it’s a tremendous  
 honor to be one of the finalist for  
 the Coach of the Year Award.  
 “Whenever I think about  
 the work I do in the community  
 with Big Apple Basketball, it’s  
 not contingent upon receiving  
 honors  but  it’s  always  about  
 what  I  can  do  to  be  able  to  
 help others achieve their  
 goals through basketball,”  
 said  Curry.  “When  there  
 are opportunities for myself  
 and the organization to be  
 recognized  in  the  capacity  
 like this, it’s a great honor... It  
 gives us a platform to continue  
 to  be  able  to  spread  the word  
 about what we do at Big Apple  
 Basketball and our work in  
 the community, and hopefully  
 use  this  to  propel  other  
 opportunities that will help us  
 to be able to help others.” 
 From  Feb.  18  through  
 Feb. 28, fans can vote for  
 their favorite coach by going  
 on the Jr. Knicks Twitter  
 and retweeting posts for  
 #CoachJoann or #CoachJason.  
 The winner will be announced  
 on court when the Knicks  
 host the Sacramento Kings on  
 March 9, where they will win a  
 $5,000 grant for their program  
 and will be entered into the  
 Junior NBA Coach of the  
 Year contest, sponsored and  
 administered by the NBA. 
   
 Reach reporter Carlotta  
 Mohamed by e-mail at  
 cmohamed@schnepsmedia. 
 com or by phone at (718) 260– 
 4526. 
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