After 50 years of coaching at 91原创's D.W. Poppy Secondary, Greg Leino is taking it one year at a time.
"I'll put this year in and then I'll talk to the people at the school," Leino told the 91原创 Advance Times during a Monday, Jan. 27, interview 鈥� just a few days before his final home game of the season as head coach of the senior boys' basketball team.
"I'll talk to [school athletic director] Lee Ellis, and talk to the principal and decide what we want to do next year, what's good for both of us."
Leino said he owes his career to Mark Tamblyn, a now-retired teacher who convinced him to apply for a job at the school.
"Mark pushed to get me a job that I was not really qualified for, but he wanted to get me into the school, and he got me going and really made a difference in my life to start off," Leino recalled.
Over five decades, Leino has amassed a long list of honours, including the naming of the gymnasium at D.W. Poppy after him, creation of a Greg Leino Post-Secondary Scholarship, and a spot on the coaches wall of distinction inside 91原创 Events Centre.
In recent years, some players on Leinos' squad have been the sons of students the 72-year-old Leino coached in his early years.
"I just talked last week with a person that graduated in 1985," Leino recalled.
"He came to the school and we talked for an hour. That's probably the most enjoyable thing about being there so long, you get to know people and be involved in their lives."
Leino did more than continue coaching when he retired from teaching after 34 years.
"I still do things around the school as well," Leino said. "We have vending machines, I look after those, and look after our school bus, and it's just an enjoyable experience."
When he talks to players at the start of the season, Leino tells them it's not always about winning.
"A few years ago we had a team that didn't start very well, and we lost more games than we won, but the end of the season was a tremendous success," Leino recalled.
"It wasn't about the wins, it was more about the progress they made, and how hard they worked, and the good people that they were."
He has a rule that if a player gets a technical foul in the game, they don't play for the rest of the game.
"They have to learn to control their emotions, and I say that when you play, you play with emotion of course, you have to do that. Bbut you don't let your emotion get the best of you," Leino said.
"My most important thing is, when we talk at the end of the year, is family and school comes before playing basketball or playing sports. They have to make sure those are taken care of first."
Athletic director Ellis said the veteran coach has a "great mindset for basketball."
"He knows the X's and O's of basketball and he teaches that," Ellis continued.
But more important, Ellis said, is how Leino is "teaching these guys those lessons about what hard work looks like, and what a commitment looks like, and what sacrifice looks like."
"His coaching style is all about commitment and development," Ellis summarized.
"You know, you might be the most talented kid, but if you're not showing up to practice and you're not giving your commitment to the rest of your teammates, then you're not going to see the floor as much as other people."
Leino is not going to win at the expense of teaching the kids what's right and wrong, Ellis noted.
Leino, who doesn't have kids of his own, simply wants the kids he mentors to be better people.
"Hopefully I've made a difference in their lives, in what they do and what they think."
