Any Court Is Home
To the Basketball Community: St. Anthony High School needs our help.
I am writing this in response to the recent news about the funding needed for St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ.
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We hopped out of our Uber on a warm, early morning late last November to attend our first St. Anthony basketball practice of the season. We weren’t at St. Anthony High School because St. Anthony High School doesn’t have a gym. Our driver had dropped us off at St. Peter’s University. An unfamiliar campus resulted in a 15-minute hunt for the entrance to the gym. We knew we were in the right place when then senior, Jagan Mosely, was racing in the door to make practice on time. Understandable, considering the hour-long commute to Jersey City everyday. We headed inside as the clock struck 8:00am, hoping we didn’t lose out on a chance to greet the coaching staff that was generously granting us an opportunity to document the 2015–2016 season.
Coach Hurley and his staff welcomed us with open arms and made sure we were settled. You could feel the energy as soon as you walked in, basketball season was finally here and every member of the St. Anthony basketball program was at home. Well… home for today. As he kicked off practice in the corner most court, St. Peter’s University students casually filled the remaining baskets for a round of morning hoops, followed by the university’s women’s basketball team who eventually needed the whole gym. None of this wavered Coach Hurley’s plan. His program practiced like they were the only team, in the only gym on the planet. Not a banner, trophy, or sign of the St. Anthony Basketball legacy was in sight. But this, the corner court 20 minutes away from school, was St. Anthony Basketball. This was the sacrifice every person in the gym was making to own the name on the front of the jersey. This is where we realized that Any Court Is Home for Coach Bob Hurley and the St. Anthony Friars.
Don’t get us wrong, St. Anthony isn’t homeless. Jersey City’s Community Education and Recreation Center acts as their ‘home’ court. A short walk from the small school is where anyone can be reminded of what this program has done under Hurley’s reign. Be sure to not stand at the center of Coach Hurley Court all googley-eyed for too long, or Hurley himself will knock you over while sweeping down the court before practice. His famous floor sweep is just one of the small details Hurley holds himself accountable for to keep the St. Anthony High School activities running day in and day out.
The season had progressed and we prepared to film episode three in February. The Friars had yet to lose a game and we were sensitive to anything that might be a distraction for their athletes at this point in the season. Again, the staff gladly opened their door. At this point we understood we had something special. Hurley’s last undefeated squad had come in 2012, and this team was doing everything right to claim it’s 28th state championship in the Hurley era.
An undefeated squad drew St. Anthony’s JV and Freshman programs as an audience. The physical differences in the young men in the bleachers compared to the varsity team on the court illustrated a journey. A journey that every single athlete in that gym opted in for. Each student-athlete shared the conscious decision to attend St. Anthony and pursue a spot on one of the most respected high school basketball programs for the most respected high school basketball coach in the country. There must have been upwards of 50 young men of all shapes, sizes, and skill levels in that gym for practice. That’s a whole quarter of the St. Anthony High School student body. For these men, for the St. Anthony student body, any court or classroom that provided the opportunity to grow under Coach Hurley’s watchful eye, was home.
We could tell you about how St. Anthony went on to win a State Championship and further win New Jersey’s Tournament of Champions. We could reveal Coach Hurley’s strategies and best practices that go into coaching an undefeated team to a championship. Or we can talk about the bright futures of the student-athletes committing themselves to the St. Anthony Basketball Program right this second. However, these stories would be secondary to what we really learned from covering this program last season. And these stories are the ones that instantly become a wrinkle in time if the doors of St. Anthony High School close this June.
The culture at St. Anthony is one of perpetual empathy and warmth. In the program’s willingness to work with us and develop this story, we saw firsthand how every staff member, administrator, athlete, and student approaches adversity with an open mind and unassuming attitude. The passion and positivity that radiates in every conversation is contagious to anyone that joins them on any part of their journey. These characteristics bury the harsh reality that the school faces year after year and even more so today. To stay open beyond the 2016–2017 calendar year, St. Anthony High School must secure $10-$20 million dollars in funding.
Most would believe after one raise’s $1.5 million a year there is not much left over to give. Ironically, we spoke to Coach Hurley about giving back to the game. In this interview, Hurley states that if you respect the sport, you have the responsibility to reach back and help all of the younger coaches the way you were helped. Additionally, he talked about the responsibility he feels to do whatever he can to help people traverse all of the things now that make basketball a difficult sport to coach. Yet despite the up’s and down’s of leading a program for over 40 years, the inevitable obstacles that happen outside of the gym, Coach Hurley still states his biggest challenges are finding a gym and fundraising the $1.5m for the school.
As most in the basketball community continue to write their own story today, we see a need to stop for a moment and look back on what Coach Bob Hurley Sr. has taught us. Whether its a motivational quote you hang on to, a few play notes from a coaching clinic, or the inside perspective from this story, the truth is that St. Anthony High School, the basketball program, and the SAHS community has touched a lot of people under Hurley’s reign. We see the need to stop and realize that this legacy we continue to pull inspiration from now has an expiration date. Now more than ever, St. Anthony needs our help, and we call on the basketball community to join in their efforts.
We believe that even if 100 coaches share Coach Hurley’s story with their team and their families, we as a community can help inch St. Anthony closer to their goals. Luckily, we have some time to rally! 100% of donations will be sent directly to St. Anthony High School.
➡️➡️CLICK HERE⬅️⬅️ to make a donation!
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