Inspiring Coach - Billy Gartin

By Randy Capps

When Billy Gartin runs a basketball practice for The Revolution, he wears a whistle.

He looks for ways to coax a little more energy and a little sharper technique out of his players, in the hopes that it might pay off during a game someday.

He organizes drills, talks with parents and keeps his daughter, Kylei, who's on the team, focused on the tasks at hand— basically all the things a basketball coach might be expected to do.

It is for that dedication, and for the positive example he sets for his players, that Gartin has earned the 2019 Johnston Now Honors Inspiring Coach award.

The fact that he does it for a wheelchair basketball team is almost secondary.

“When you're coaching the able-bodied kids versus coaching the wheelchair team, initially I thought there was going to be a big difference,” he said. “Honestly, there's really not. There's that competitive drive, and what you have to remind yourself is that they're teenagers. And just like any teenager, they're going to try to be about as lazy as you’re going to let them be when it comes to putting in the work and effort. Everybody loves to play, but like any other sport, people don't necessarily

want to practice. But we try to keep it fun and keep it interactive.”

One of the ways that he has found to spice up practices is to invite other teams to try out wheelchair basketball.

“They make it look easy,” he said. “They make it look real easy. One of the things that I began doing was inviting the parents to get out in the chairs. That seems to have helped with the understanding of the sport all together. We bring in able-bodied teams, too, and we play against them in the chair for our scrimmages. We've been pretty successful with that.”

A local AAU team and a team comprised of Billy's co-workers from the City of Raleigh Police Department are just two of the able-bodied teams that the Revolution helped introduce to the game.

“The kids love that kind of stuff, because they get to expose their sport to other people,” he said. “And the folks who get in the chair love it, too, because they realize how much effort it takes. You get in the that chair and you go, 'I can walk and I can run and I can do all these things,' but you get in that chair and some 12 year old is doing circles around you. Or they've got your chair locked down and you can't get away because of the skill they've got.”

Nurturing those abilities is a coach's job.

“They are kids, and you have to find a way to relate to each individual child,” he said. “What works for one child may not work for another child. … And that's in any sport. Once the kids believe that you care about them, that's the most important thing, the effort will come.

“Each player has a skill level. Your job as a coach is to recognize the player's growth within that skill level, then reward them and appreciate them.”

Anyone enrolled in school is eligible to participate in The Revolution, and recent graduations have the team's numbers down just a bit.

“We're in a strong recruitment period right now,” he said. “We're trying to recruit as many players as we can to help us get back up to enough to actually enter the wheelchair national tournaments.”

It's not often that kids get a chance to join a revolution.

“It's a family organization,” he said. “Our general manager-slashfounder Richard Lynch is probably one of the nicest individuals you're ever going to meet. He loves to give me a bunch of credit, but I always tell him, 'you do all the

hard work. All I do is show up with the whistle.'

“You'll find an organization that's not so much focused on winning. We're more about life lessons for the kids. If winning comes, that's great. Everybody likes to win and wants to win, but I won't win at the cost or detriment of another child's feelings.

“Winning's great, but we're going to focus on making sure everybody's having a good time, everybody's working hard and everybody gets the appropriate amount of playing time. We're going to make sure everybody's learning and growing together as a team.”

Getting involved in the sport wasn't an easy decision for Gartin and his family, but a little hands-on experience went a long way.

“Before you say your child can't do it and I'm talking to myself here because I had initially said, 'I don't know about this,' bring them out and let them get in the chair,” he said. “You come out and get in the chair, too. I guarantee you after one event, you'll be hooked.

“It's a great organization. I'm just blessed to be a part of it.”

Gartin lives in McGee's Crossroads with his wife, Tiffany, son, James, 16, and 15-year-old Kylei.

14 | JOHNSTON NOW