DISTRCT HEIGHTS, MD – Mike Toro couldn’t sit at home any longer.
“I started getting bored,” the Bishop Ford girls basketball coach said. “I really liked coaching. I really liked helping the kids out.”
Toro got his start as a basketball coach through Apache Paschall and his Exodus program. He was a regular on the AAU circuit until two and a half years ago, his final summer with the Exodus Lady Falcons. He decided to go back on the road this year, coaching one of New Heights’ 15U teams. He is currently at the U15 USJN/Nike National Championships in Maryland.
“After only coaching in the Rose Classic, I started to get the itch again,” Toro said.
He picked New Heights because of the quality of its overall program. The well known organization has always been about more than just basketball, focusing on academics and success in the classroom as well as on the court.
“I felt like it was something new to try,” Toro said.
Coaching the younger kids has been a refreshing experience for Toro. It’s given him a chance to wor players not currently on his Bishop Ford roster, work on teaching skills and relating to younger and less established kids. Toro’s believes that will get him ready for when this group of Falcon seniors graduate.
“It’s a challenge for me,” Toro said. “I have to really coach more and really teach the kids. They are eager to learn.”
He added: “This helps prepare me for what I’m doing for the summer and also in high school.”
Toro believes his return to AAU will mark the end of his troubles with anxiety. It hampered him much of last season with Ford, especially after the death of Paschall, his good friend and coaching mentor, from a heart attack on Jan. 3. Toro missed games, made multiple trips to the hospital and even while on the bench often left the bulk of the coaching duties to assistant Scott Wasserfall. Losses aren’t bothering him like they used is.
“I can still got home and take a deep breathe and say it’s just a game.” Toro said. “It doesn’t bother me.”