The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The husband/wife tandem of coaches Nathan and Servonia Coakley continue to make a positive impact in the lives of many of our young high school players.

After working with the Westminster Diplomat basketball team, the duo have launched out to form the Coach Sernovia Coakley Basketball Programme, as they continue to assist getting as many student-athletes off, either to finish their high school career or to begin college.

While at Westminster, they were able to get basketball players Wardrick Wilson and Grevaughn ‘Bimini’ Goodman off to high school where they are now preparing for college later this year, albeit on a football scholarship for Wilson, while Goodman will remain focused on basketball.

“I would like to thank God for what these two young men have accomplished,” Nathan Coakley said.

Goodman, who attends Homestead High School in Homestead, Florida, has signed to play for Bryant College and Wilson will be playing football for the Florida Gators after he graduates from Miami Carol City High in Miami, Florida.

“When we were at Westminster, we took them into our programme and they helped to put the team back on the map,” Nathan Coakley said. “They both got an opportunity to head off to high school and now they have an opportunity to excel at the collegiate level.”

Nathan Coakley said the players persevered because they wanted to be among the best high school players in the United States. “If you are not willing to put the work in, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said about the players’ academic achievement. “You have to make the sacrifices, put the extra time in and work harder to achieve your goal.”

Nathan Coakley said they have admonished the players to put God first in everything they do and they can accomplish a great deal of success.

Both players, 18, left Westminster in 2016 when the Coakleys were completing their tenure.

“To God be the glory for great things they have done,” he said of their accomplishments. “I used to be on their backs, rowing them out because Wardrick was very lazy, but I am very proud of them with their stickability. They hung in there and they made it work for them.”

Every year, Nathan Coakley said he and his wife take the players in their programme to Massachusetts for a college tour where they also get a chance to participate in a tournament to see where they are compared to the players in the United States.

Players interested in becoming a part of the Coakley programme can contact them at 422-1215.