Inner Strength

Ron Naclerio is not one to get sentimental. He would rather move on to the next game. However, when Cardozo topped Campus Magnet for the Queens title February 17 at St. John’s University and he was called to center court to accept the trophy, the zany coach froze the moment.
He grabbed the microphone and invited his longtime assistant coach, Chuck Vance, to join him. This was not just to honor a loyal friend. Vance has cancer of the liver and bones, and was recently in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy.
The Judges dedicated the game - and the rest of their season - to the 58-year-old from St. Albans. That night Vance called Naclerio. He wanted to thank him - and his players - for the kind gesture. “This is the greatest feeling what these kids did for me,” he said. “The last time I was this proud they won the city championship [in 1999]. Sometimes when things are not going right for you, you need inspiration. Those kids gave me the inspiration to fight this.”
Since the borough playoffs, Vance has been with the Judges every step of the way, at practice, scrimmages and games. He was there for a pep rally before their double overtime win over Canarsie in the opening round of the PSAL Class AA playoffs. In addition, he was at St. John’s when their season ended last Saturday afternoon, in a 61-55 heartbreaker to Jefferson.
“Every time we stepped on the court and he was there,” senior guard Trinity Fields said, “he made us play harder.”
Vance played basketball and ran track at Richmond Hill before attending York College. He got into coaching initially at since disbanded St. Pascal’s High School, and went on to serve as a mentor at the Foster-Laurie PAL in Jamaica. He joined Naclerio’s staff in 1992. He left for Bishop Loughlin in 2000, to help their young coach Khalid Green, and returned this season.
Vance returns to the hospital Thursday, and will undergo chemotherapy over the next six months to slow the spreading cancer cells. However, Vance, a lifelong basketball coach, is not thinking about the end. He was at Cardozo this week making sure his players were going to class after Naclerio had collected in their uniforms. He still has to help seven players find a suitable college, he said, and then there is next season.
“As long as I have the strength, I’m going to be involved in basketball,” he said. “That’s my love, that’s my passion.”
“It’s amazing,” Naclerio said, “to see the guy still going.”
Vance’s sister, Caroline Devore, a dean at Cardozo, has seen a noticeable change in him recently. Being around his players and attending the Judges’ games “was a rebirth, almost like a miracle,” she said. “He was more cognizant, talking, high-spirited. It was almost like he wasn’t sick. I really feel that basketball and the kids have really helped to sustain him through this. It really gave him a lift.”
“Just the fact that he was there, and everybody was so concerned about him and showed him so much love, so much warmth, it lifted him,” she continued. “He’s rejuvenated even though he has to go back to the hospital.”