{"id":100364,"date":"2026-01-14T19:38:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100364\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T19:38:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:38:28","slug":"queens-basketball-coaches-named-jr-knicks-coach-of-the-year-nominees-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100364\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens basketball coaches named Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year nominees \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of Queens coaches have been nominated for the Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year<\/a>, a prestigious annual award celebrating coaches who make a positive impact on young basketball players, both on the court and in the community.<\/p>\n

The award, presented by Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), is now in its eighth year and features 15 coaches from across New York, including five from Queens, who have been recognized for their commitment, dedication and integrity within community service organizations.<\/p>\n

Queens nominee for the 2026 award include Forest Hills-based coach Frank Sardinas, Astoria\u2019s<\/a> Jerry Kokkinos, South Ozone Park coach Pablo Segura and Marianne \u201cSkippy\u201d Doyle and Kathleen Tomassetti, who both live in the Rockaways.<\/p>\n

The winner of the 2026 award will receive $20,000 as well as being entered into as the Knicks representative in the Jr. NBA\u2019s National Coach of the Year Program, while two other finalists will each receive $5,000.<\/p>\n

Tomassetti, a mother-of-six and a property manager, has been nominated in recognition of her role as youth boys basketball coach at the St. Columba Catholic Church Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). Tomassetti began coaching with CYO 13 years ago, first joining the St. Francis de Sales branch of the organization in the Rockaways before recently transferring to St. Columba CYO program in Brooklyn to coach on of her son\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n

Tomassetti, who has largely coached players who are not elite and in need of self-confidence, said it is fulfilling to watch players develop and discover their confidence on the basketball court.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching their developmental, watching when it clicks and they get so excited, it really feels like you\u2019re doing something, that you\u2019re really making a difference,\u201d Tomassetti said. \u201cThese kids start out not having a lot of self confidence, and now they walk into the gym and they\u2019re able to compete. I\u2019m really proud of their progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaching has also helped Tomassetti through some of the hardest moments of her life.\n<\/p>\n

In 2024, she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer just a few months before the death of her father. On both occasions, Tomassetti \u201cdidn\u2019t miss a beat\u201d and continued to coach a number of youth teams throughout her treatment and her grief. Coaching, Tomassetti said, provided a much-needed distraction from some of the most difficult times in her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt almost gives you a break from the stress of the outside world,\u201d Tomassetti said. \u201cIt gives you a purpose and it gets your focus away.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Greg Landry, Tomassetti\u2019s father, had played in the NFL for 17 years, starring as an All-Pro quarterback for the Detroit Lions in the 1970s, and Tomassetti believes that Landry would have wanted her to keep coaching shortly after his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like coaching my kids was a really good tribute to him,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted them to know that there\u2019s bad things that happen to you in life and sometimes you have to keep your chin up and just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kokkinos, meanwhile, has spent 17 years coaching at the CYO\u2019s basketball program at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Astoria. Kokkinos founded the area\u2019s first girls CYO basketball program, ensuring that girls had a league of their own to compete in rather than just a place on boys\u2019 teams.<\/p>\n

The program is now thriving, featuring 11 teams across all age groups.
\n\"JerryJerry Kokkinos at the CYO basketball program in Astoria. Photo courtesy of Jerry Kokkinos\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very nice to see what we\u2019ve grown in the community,\u201d Kokkinos said, adding that providing girls with a platform to take part in sports offers them a chance to develop off the court as well as on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey go into so many different fields because of the confidence they gain in playing sports,\u201d Kokkinos said.\n<\/p>\n

Kokkinos added that many girls who participate in the program go on to play high school or college basketball, while others return to coach and help out.\n<\/p>\n

The program welcomes children of all backgrounds, Kokkinos said, providing a sporting outlet for kids who may be struggling at school or going through a hard time.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come from different homes, they come from different situations,\u201d he said. \u201cThey might be struggling in school, they might be having personal stuff, so this is just an outlet we provide for this community, and we will continue to do so as long as the school allows us and the community encourages us to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Forest Hills, Sardinas has been leading co-ed programs for children aged 2-11 for over a decade with Hot Shots Basketball, which he founded to provide a safe and fun space for children to play sports.<\/p>\n

Sardinas, who previously taught gym before setting up Hot Shots, emphasized that sports should be fun for children so that they are encouraged to play and take part.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of just saying, \u2018Go practice your shooting,\u2019 I would call it a game, like alien invasion. And then the kids loved it,\u201d Sardinas said.\n<\/p>\n

He added that his job \u201crewards him everyday,\u201d stating that he regularly stays after hours every day to work on skills with kids struggling with confidence or form. He added that it \u201cnever gets old\u201d to see a player overcome doubts or master a particular skill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the kids to know that they can do the hard things,\u201d Sardinas said. \u201cYou seee their face light up when they do it.\u201d
\n\"FrankFrank Sardinas coaching at Hot Shots Basketball. Photo courtesy of Frank Sardinas\n<\/p>\n

Learning to overcome difficult challenges on the court can help provide kids with experience to figure out difficult problems in the rest of their lives, Sardinas added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what we can teach them that they bring outside the court, maybe into the classroom or into their home.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Segura, on the other hand, has been nominated for his role as a physical education teacher for K-5 students in South Ozone Park. Segura strives to inspire his students to gain confidence and find happiness through sports, aiming to contribute to their personal growth.<\/p>\n

Segura\u2019s goal is to enhance his after school physical education programming by expanding access to equipment and fitness activities. He also aims to improve social emotional learning and strengthen community connections through sports and physical education.<\/p>\n

Doyle, known throughout the Rockaway community as \u201cSkippy,\u201d began her coaching career with CYO before founding Skippy\u2019s Basketball, a series of youth clinics, summer camps and programs open to players of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels.<\/p>\n

Doyle aims to use basketball to teach the values of inclusion, teamwork and community engagement in addition to skill development. She works extensively with children with special needs by introducing them to sports in a supportive environment.<\/p>\n

Giving back is a core part of Doyle\u2019s programming, with her annual 3-on-3 by the Sea Memorial Tournament bringing roughly 100 teams to the Rockaways every year. The tournament, held in honor of her friend Clare Droesch, raises funds for the Clare Droesch Foundation to aid families in need, and supporting scholarships at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy, Christ the King High School and Boston College.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A number of Queens coaches have been nominated for the Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, a prestigious…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4567,46029,46030,46031,46032,46033,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-100364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-basketball","tag-catholic-youth-organization","tag-coaching","tag-cyo","tag-jr-knicks","tag-jr-knicks-coach-of-the-year-award","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}