Coach:

Rick has been coaching in the bay area for over 20 years. He started by volunteering for the Berkeley YMCA, and then later took over the program, expanding it from 70 to 220 kids in 3 years. Rick then started the current youth basketball program at the University Village, Albany. They have Wednesday classes and weekend leagues and classes. About 15 years ago, Rick also started a similar youth basketball program at Calvary Presbyterian Church on Saturday mornings. Rick also coaches a girls' class on Wenesday evening at the Calvary Church Gym.

Athletic Career and Education

Rick had an outstanding athletic career. He was honored as one of the 10 most outstanding athletes at Elma High School (Washington State) and voted into the school's First Class of the Ring Of Fame. In football Rick was MVP his senior year and on the 2nd team all Conference. In track, in his junior year Rick was runner up in the mile at the Conference Track Meet. In his senior year Rick won the Conference Mile and for a while held the school's mile best time.

However, it was basketball that became Rick's main sport. As a junior he led his team to the Class A State Tournament where he was 2nd team all state. He also won the team's MVP award. In his senior year Rick truly established himself. He lead his team to the Conference Championship, where he was voted to the 1st Team All Conference. In the South West District Tournament, Rick lead his team to the District Title by being named MVP of the Tournament for setting single game and district tournament scoring records. At the Class A State Tournament Rick had a stellar performance and was named Co-MVP of the tournament for leading his team to the State Championship Title. The scorekeeper of the tournament said "Rick was the most polished guard" he had seen in 40 years of tournament play. Rick was voted MVP of his high school team for the 2nd straight year and was also voted as the Outstanding Athlete of Grays Harbor County.

Upon graduating from high school, Rick received a full ride scholarship from the Division 1 University of Washington. After a challenging freshman year, Rick established himself in the Husky Program and earned 3 Varsity Letters. He was a starter for one complete season and part of another. He also received the Scholar Athlete Award in the basketball program. Academically, Rick graduated with a BA in Business Administration. In addition, Rick established himself as a student leader at the school. In his last year of undergraduate studies, he was voted by The Men's Student Body as the Outstanding Male Student at the University of Washington. After completing his undergraduate studies, he continued on to receive a MBA, also from the University of Washington. Finally, Rick furthered his intellectual and spiritual growth at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, where he received a MA in Theology.

Religious and Spiritual Activities:

Rick's area of inquiry at Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology focused on Comparative Religions, which is reflected in his spiritual practices today. Rick is an active member and one of the leaders of Calvary Presbyterian Church. He is chairman of the administrative committee and an elder. Rick has also lived in community at the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center in Santa Rosa, CA; the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, CA and Holden Village in Washington State. He also practices Buddhist meditation and regularly meditates at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Berkeley Zen Center. Rick's coaching is heavily influenced by both Christian and Buddhist spiritual practices. Reflecting St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching that you can 'develop the universal out of the particular,' Rick believes that through coaching, he can help players develop themselves as people, as many of the principles of basketball can teach life lessons that apply to a person's life off the court. Buddha's compassion for all sentient beings and Christ's teaching of "as you do to the least of these, you do unto me" means that the leaders and best players on the court have a responsibility to lift up and help the other players around them. To paraphrase a saying from one of the early fathers of the church, "a glory of God is a human being fully alive." Through the teamwork, sacrifice and hard work that comes from participating on a team, players who engage in true "we basketball" become part of something greater than their individual selves. This reveals the insight that we are all part of a larger community and share a universal humanity. This insight when experienced directly on the court during a basketball game manifests itself as a player who is fully in the present moment, at ease in his/her own skin as well as with his/her teammates and the larger world. The kids, of course, do not understand this theology, their brains are not yet wired for such abstract thought. To kids, good basketball is fun, fair, and hard work. Nevertheless, through play on the court, this inner wisdom gradually becomes established in their psyches.

Husband and Father:

Off the court, Rick shares his life with his wife, Ann and his young son Nathan, born in February 2008.  The joys and profoundly life-changing experience of fatherhood has deepened his appreciation for the process of human development.  This has brought new inspiration to his work of developing youth through sports.  He is also grateful for his wife, who is not only a devoted mother and patient spouse, but also surrenders the TV remote during the Warriors' playoff runs.