At 81, Queens Basketball Coach Mentors 300 Kids

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS – At 60 years old, Joel Mansbach decided he was ready for a career change. He wanted to do something he was passionate about and his advertising job just wasn't cutting it.

His wife, Joan, asked him: If he could do anything, what was the one career that would make him happiest? The two things Mansbach loved most instantly popped into his mind – children and basketball.

"He said he would love to teach kids how to play basketball," Joan said.

Just like that, First Shot Basketball School was born in Forest Hills.

Mansbach, who lives in the Queens neighborhood, envisioned First Shot as a basketball program that would teach children the basics of the game, while building up their self confidence along the way.

He and his wife hired a few trained coaches to teach the sport alongside him, compiled a mailing list and sent out flyers offering a free trial lesson. When First Shot's first season started in September 1997, Mansbach had rounded up nine kids for the class.

Fast forward 20 years later – he now has more than 300 students enrolled in the program.

"He created an incredible business from nothing," Joan said. "It grew and it grew, and now we’re the leading basketball program in Queens."

In addition to its Forest Hills headquarters, First Shot now operates programs in four public schools throughout Queens including two in Bayside, one in Jamaica Estates and another in Rego Park.

First Shot now has 15 trained part-time coaches teaching the sport alongside Mansbach. He said that idea came to him years ago after he took his son to participate in his first basketball league, whose lack of proper coaching left the two disappointed.

"They didn't teach anything," Mansbach said. "They just gave the kids shirts and told them to go out and play."

Mansbach said he made a mental note at the time to one day "do it the right way." Rather than take volunteers, he vowed to hire and train coaches to ensure they were qualified to "actually teach kids the basics of the game."

"It kind of took 15 years of that idea being in the back of my head," he said.

First Shot Basketball School offers 12-week programs for children ages 3 to 15, with a separate program for each age group. The 'Supertots' program, which lasts an hour and fifteen minutes, is for ages 3-4. 'Pee Wee', which lasts an hour and a half, is for ages 5-6. Children ages 7-10 are placed in the Beginner program and can eventually go on to play in the school's 'Olympics' program until they are 15 years old.

"After that, they're probably too good for us," Joan laughed.

The basketball programs teaches kids the basics of the game, like dribbling, shooting and ball handling. It's meant for children with no prior experience, with the very first lesson of the beginners program being on how to properly catch the ball, Mansbach said.

"These are the kids that need a little more confidence because they want to try out for their school team or they don't want to be picked last by their friends on a team," Joan said.

Aside from simply teaching a few basketball skills, the programs focus on building up the children's self confidence. Mansbach said coaches are trained to constantly reassure children of their confidence in them throughout the program, and never let them say "I can't." If he sees a kid who needs extra help, he often works with the student one-on-one to build their confidence, Joan said.

"We let them know that this is a very difficult game, but we tell them if they listen and put in practice, they absolutely will be able to do it," Mansbach said. "Quite often our confidence in them overrides the lack of confidence they may have in themselves."

The model appears to be working for First Shot. Joan said the basketball school has started to see the siblings of students they had 20 years ago enrolling for classes. It's also working for Mansbach, who said teaching children to play basketball has left him happier and more fulfilled than he's ever been.

"There is nothing that I’ve ever done in my life that gives me the joy and the gratification of helping a child who walks in thinking, 'I can't do this,' and eventually seeing that child make his first shot," he said.

Despite now being 81 years old, Mansbach said he doesn't see himself stepping away from the basketball school anytime soon.

"I plan on doing this until I can't do it anymore," he said.

For Mansbach, whose grandchildren live out of town, the First Shot students are like his honorary grandchildren.

"I've got these 300 grandchildren that come visit me every day," he said. "It doesn't get much better than that."

Lead image via First Shot Basketball School.