Meet our most recent coach contest winner, Coach McCall! McCall is the Assistant Boy’s Basketball Coach at St. Anthony, a highly successful basketball program in the Newark, NJ area. McCall placed in the top 10 in the country in our coach competition, earning himself an exclusive prize package that included a meet & greet with Stephen Curry, tickets to the Warriors-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, autographed Under Armour gear, and hotel & transportation.
We caught up with McCall to ask him a few questions about his weekend in NYC, coaching career, and advice for coaches.
How was your weekend in NYC meeting Stephen Curry and going to the Warriors – Knicks game? What was the highlight of the weekend? What was Stephen like?
My weekend in NYC was amazing! As a player, coach, and student of the game, it was very cool to meet Steph who was very laid back, humble, and personable. The highlight was definitely meeting him and, of course, going to Madison Square Garden for my first time and watching the Warriors and Steph live in action.
Did you have any coaches growing up that had a big influence on you? Did you ever take private sports lessons when you were growing up?
The two biggest coaches who influenced me early on as a player and coach are Ty and his father Rle Nichols. Ty is the current coach of Sierra Canyon high school and his father runs a program named High Five America out of San Diego. I played for them in middle and high school and also took group training classes. Right now, the biggest influence on me as a coach is Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony High School where I am an Assistant Coach on the varsity team.
What made you decide to become a private coach?
What made me become a private coach was my love and passion for the game I have played growing up all the way to college. I’ve always loved the process of working on my game and getting better. I wanted to help players train the right way and develop championship habits, as these are the same habits that form who we are on and off the court.
How has your coaching career changed since joining CoachUp?
My coaching career has changed tremendously through CoachUp. The partnership has given me countless opportunities that I would’ve never had without them. I now have a greater opportunity to help and train more athletes.
You placed in the top 10 entries for our coach contest – what did you do to ramp up your business?
To ramp up my business, I really worked hard to create relationships with my players and the parents. I also work hard every day to keep my response rate high and respond as fast as possible to all messages.
What is one piece of advice that you would like to pass on to all of the athletes and/or coaches out there looking to get better?
I would tell all coaches to communicate early and often with clients and really work hard to train their weaknesses and improve their strengths even more. Also, for two-way sports, work on the defensive end as well — that’s something that lacks in private coaching and I get requests on defense a lot from clients.
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Coach McCall
A lifetime player of the game, McCall’s basketball career really took off in San Diego at Point Loma High School where he was a First Team All-Eastern League Player and team captain. His high school career highlights include tournament MVPs, setting the school’s 3-point record, and hitting numerous buzzer beaters. He continued his basketball career at D1 Southern University where he graduated in 2010 with a degree in Business Marketing.
After graduating, McCall quickly returned to the game he loved, started his coaching career in 2011 and never looking back. He has experience coaching high school and AAU basketball, and currently train kids from elementary ages all the way up to the professional level. He has worked with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Coach Bob Hurley, Gordan Hayward, Nike, and Hoop Group, just to name a few.
If you are interested in training with Coach McCall, you can check out his CoachUp profile HERE.
