鈥淚n the beginning, nobody really cared.鈥� Jack Ho was in Grade 11 at Tupper secondary and playing for the senior boys basketball team in 2003, the first season Jeff Gourley volunteered to coach the Tigers.
鈥淚t was tough for him to come to a team like that because we didn鈥檛 really care either. We just thought he was another guy who was going to sit on the bench. No one wanted to coach. I actually had to go find our own coach. Randomly, I asked an old Tupper student to come and do it and told him he just had to show up and we鈥檒l do the rest.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how [Gourley] ended up at Tupper. He was good for us. He gave us gym time. Him coming in, he wasn鈥檛 just a coach 鈥� he actually cared. He cared about us doing well, he cared about us putting in work and doing well. He didn鈥檛 just leave it to us.
鈥淚 kind of got in trouble in Grade 12鈥� for shoplifting.鈥� Ho stole a wallet from a neighbourhood mall.
鈥淚 was really embarrassed and didn鈥檛 know what to do. He took me in. He was like a dad. Talked to the police officers, had me do community service with him. He got the police to agree to let me do community service with him. That鈥檚 when I would do all the things at elementary schools, like basketball demonstrations. Afterwards, even when I finished [community service], I still decided to do it because he helped me out so much.鈥�
鈥淗e was the kind of guy that, even if you made a mistake, he didn鈥檛 want to you compound that mistake.鈥� Warren Leung graduated in 2011 and played two years at St. Mary鈥檚 University, also Gourley鈥檚 alma mater.
鈥淐oach, he鈥檚 a real father figure. Straight up like another dad to me. Taught me everything on and off the court and about being a man. He would teach you things while you鈥檙e going through it. I didn鈥檛 even know what I was going through, and he taught me in a big way without me knowing. He would let me learn on my own鈥� but would somehow guide me. He鈥檚 always putting kids first, before anything. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 crazy 鈥� he鈥檚 doing all this coaching, he鈥檚 not getting paid for none of this. That鈥檚 why I say he鈥檚 like a father to me.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 very motivational. He鈥檚 always running his mouth and it gets everyone going.鈥� Ivan Yaco was a senior at Tupper in 2009, played for the Falcons and graduated from Langara College and is pursuing professional opportunities with the Philippine Basketball Association.
鈥淲hat would he say? 鈥楰eep working, son.鈥� He was always trying to explain everything. Make sure everyone understood.
鈥淚鈥檓 still involved because of him. I wouldn鈥檛 be the same person if I didn鈥檛 meet this guy, honestly. He helped me open my mind, he basically used basketball as a tool for me to open up for other things.鈥� Yaco coaches basketball for the Jerome Outreach Society, a charity organization with the core belief that sport saves lives.
鈥業 definitely use the drills I used to play for him. I also learned鈥� the way he talks to the kids, the way he gives them advice and the way he would check on them before and after. I try to show them I actually care about them, not just as a coach but as someone they can rely on.
鈥淛eff and basketball, basketball and Jeff 鈥� they come together 鈥� it can鈥檛 be just one of those.鈥�
鈥淐oach is that guy who is always cracking jokes, always smiling.鈥� Patrick Cumaual graduated in 2013 and is now the Tigers assistant coach.
鈥淗e puts it out there that everyone is family. You can hear him all the time, all over the court, 鈥榃ay to go, son.鈥� Even now as a coach, I hear him saying to me, 鈥楾here you go, son.鈥� It makes everyone feel they鈥檙e doing a good job.
鈥淭here are a couple players, currently I know of two, that are missing a father at the moment. I also had teammates鈥� their whole family was gone. They were students from China, Korea. Their whole family was all in China still.鈥�
鈥淚 still talk to my university coach and high school coach roughly, roughly once a week to once a month.鈥� Each year after the last game of the regular season, Gourley honours the graduating seniors as well as their parents and family for their commitment, effort and time. On Feb. 2, parents and players paid him tribute.
鈥淚 remember telling my high school coach when I first started coaching here at Tupper, 鈥業 just couldn鈥檛 believe it. I couldn鈥檛 get seven kids to come to practice. What鈥檚 the deal? Coach, can you explain that to me? I came to practice four hours early.鈥� 鈥榊eah,鈥� he said, 鈥淵ou forget. You鈥檙e one in 1,000. Not everyone is like you.鈥欌��
