RHS Boys Basketball: Freshman team a fine fit for longtime Ridgewood coach
MARCH 6, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — The natural progression for many coaches at the high school level is to start out at the freshman or JV ranks before landing a job leading a varsity squad.
Ridgewood High School freshman boys basketball coach John Fiocchi climbed that ladder years ago, but the descent back down the rungs of the high school game has been just as a rewarding.
“This has been the most fun I’ve had: coaching the freshmen,” Fiocchi said last Friday, shortly after receiving an award from the Bergen County Coaches Association recognizing his role in staging the Bergen County Freshman Tournament the past 20 years.
For tournament director Joe DelBuono, the honor — presented to Fiocchi at halftime of the championship game at RHS — was long overdue.
“He’s dedicated himself to the tournament for over 20 years,” DelBuono said. “It’s about time that someone recognized that he does this, and it’s a good thing for the younger coaches to see too — that you dedicate yourself and you get some appreciation for it.”
Fiocchi has served on the tournament selection committee for more than 20 years and has been instrumental in coordinating the use of Ridgewood facilities every year for the tournament semifinals and finals, leading many to refer to the tournament as “The Road to Ridgewood,” according to DelBuono.
While the coach of more than 40 years is seemingly on top of everything when it comes to the freshman tournament, the recognition took him by surprise.