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09/01/2016 12:00 AMThe Guilford Basketball League (GBL) has produced many great players and coaches through the past three decades and that legacy is continuing with its newest chairman of the board, Bruce Freeman.
Bruce grew up in Manhattan, where he was a four-sport athlete in high school. Bruce has worked as a pediatrician for the past two decades, but in recent years, Bruce also decided that he wanted get involved with local basketball as a coach. Since March of 2015, Bruce has served as the president of the GBL and he’s seen the league grow exponentially during that time.
“When my boys began to get involved in youth sports, I started to get the coaching bug and started assistant coaching,” says Bruce, who lives in Guilford. “Our league is a recreation basketball league and it is all inclusive for any child in Guilford. We have a 3rd- [to] 8th-grade program, along with a younger kindergarten [to] 2nd-grade one with just under 200 kids. We also have high school and travel programs and so we’ve built it all into a league that is approaching 80 teams.”
The GBL has formed a partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), whose nurturing ideology influenced Bruce to get involved with youth sports.
“The PCA got me hooked into coaching. They use sports to teach life lessons to kids, such as gaining confidence, but also how to deal with losing,” Bruce says. “For me, it’s participation with my kids and the broader population around the town that is very rewarding. I love to help the kids understand that you need to work hard to get better.”
The GBL has also cultivated a few award-winning coaches, including Scott Markovich and Christian Appleman, who both earned the nationally recognized PDA Double Goal Coach Award. Bruce has worked hard to expand the coaching roster in the league.
“The Double Goal Award is one where there are 25 winners nationwide and so to have two coaches from the GBL, it’s very gratifying,” says Bruce. “Christian and I also helped put together a video library on YouTube that all of our coaches have access to with videos on how to run a practice and coach during a game.”
Markovich praise Bruce for his relentlessness with making the GBL the best organization it can be, while always keeping the door open for dialogue.
“The GBL is one of the more successful youth programs in Guilford and, for an organization to be successful, it takes a lot of time, effort, and commitment. In essence, Bruce brings all of that to the table as league president,” says Markovich. “He’s created a healthy experience for the kids. Bruce is a very busy guy, but he never misses a chance to actively engage others to better the league and himself as president. Without question, his level of commitment and communication to the parents, coaches, and players has set a new standard in his time as president.”
As a mentor to aspiring athletes, one of Bruce’s main objectives is to make the players understand that they need to focus on the things that are within their control. In terms of moving forward with the league, Bruce wants to break down barriers by introducing a few new people to the sidelines.
“I like to emphasize teaching the players about controlling only the elements they can control, including things like their attitude. I tell the players to not get caught up with the things they can’t control. They are going to make mistakes, such as turnovers and missed shots; they are integral to sports. It’s also about dealing with those mistakes,” says Bruce. “We can’t grow too much more in terms of teams, but in our partnership with the PCA, we hold coaching workshops. We also have a new partnership with the Changing the Game Project, which is about making the games in youth sports more about the athletes, rather than the parents and coaches. We want to add more coaches for our teams and we are hoping to look for more female coaches.”