16 Two Queens basketball coaches nominated
for Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year Award
QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 24, 2019
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.
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
Jason Curry (r.), is the 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. Courtesy of Jason Curry
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.
JoAnn Pinnock learned the game of basketball from her
father at a young age, and she is motivated everyday to
teach the game to others. Courtesy of JoAnn Pinnock
Big Apple Basketball serves 350 kids between the ages of 7
to 18 years old, and has been helping to build strong communities
by reaching out to other community groups, according
to Curry. Courtesy of Jason Curry