A number of Queens coaches have been nominated for the Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, a prestigious annual award celebrating coaches who make a positive impact on young basketball players, both on the court and in the community.
The award, presented by Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), is now in its eighth year and features 15 coaches from across New York, including five from Queens, who have been recognized for their commitment, dedication and integrity within community service organizations.
Queens nominees for the 2026 award include Forest Hills-based coach Frank Sardinas, Astoria’s Jerry Kokkinos, South Ozone Park coach Pablo Segura and Marianne “Skippy” Doyle and Kathleen Tomassetti, who both live in the Rockaways.
The winner of the 2026 award will receive $20,000 as well as being entered into as the Knicks representative in the Jr. NBA’s National Coach of the Year Program, while two other finalists will each receive $5,000.
Tomassetti, a mother-of-six and a property manager, has been nominated in recognition of her role as youth boys basketball coach at the St. Columba Catholic Church Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). Tomassetti began coaching with CYO 13 years ago, first joining the St. Francis de Sales branch of the organization in the Rockaways before recently transferring to St. Columba CYO program in Brooklyn to coach on of her son’s teams.
Tomassetti, who has largely coached players who are not elite and in need of self-confidence, said it is fulfilling to watch players develop and discover their confidence on the basketball court.
“Watching their developmental, watching when it clicks and they get so excited, it really feels like you’re doing something, that you’re really making a difference,” Tomassetti said. “These kids start out not having a lot of self-confidence, and now they walk into the gym and they’re able to compete. I’m really proud of their progress.”
Coaching has also helped Tomassetti through some of the hardest moments of her life.
In 2024, she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer just a few months before the death of her father. On both occasions, Tomassetti “didn’t miss a beat” and continued to coach a number of youth teams throughout her treatment and her grief. Coaching, Tomassetti said, provided a much-needed distraction from some of the most difficult times in her life.
“It almost gives you a break from the stress of the outside world,” Tomassetti said. “It gives you a purpose and it gets your focus away.”
Greg Landry, Tomassetti’s father, had played in the NFL for 17 years, starring as an All-Pro quarterback for the Detroit Lions in the 1970s, and Tomassetti believes that Landry would have wanted her to keep coaching shortly after his death.
“I felt like coaching my kids was a really good tribute to him,” she said. “I wanted them to know that there’s bad things that happen to you in life and sometimes you have to keep your chin up and just keep going.”
Kokkinos, meanwhile, has spent 17 years coaching at the CYO’s basketball program at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Astoria. Kokkinos founded the area’s first girls CYO basketball program, ensuring that girls had a league of their own to compete in rather than just a place on boys’ teams.
The program is now thriving, featuring 11 teams across all age groups.
“It’s very nice to see what we’ve grown in the community,” Kokkinos said, adding that providing girls with a platform to take part in sports offers them a chance to develop off the court as well as on it.
“They go into so many different fields because of the confidence they gain in playing sports,” Kokkinos said.
Kokkinos added that many girls who participate in the program go on to play high school or college basketball, while others return to coach and help out.
The program welcomes children of all backgrounds, Kokkinos said, providing a sporting outlet for kids who may be struggling at school or going through a hard time.
“They come from different homes, they come from different situations,” he said. “They might be struggling in school, they might be having personal stuff, so this is just an outlet we provide for this community, and we will continue to do so as long as the school allows us and the community encourages us to.”
In Forest Hills, Sardinas has been leading co-ed programs for children aged 2-11 for over a decade with Hot Shots Basketball, which he founded to provide a safe and fun space for children to play sports.
Sardinas, who previously taught gym before setting up Hot Shots, emphasized that sports should be fun for children so that they are encouraged to play and take part.
“Instead of just saying, ‘Go practice your shooting,’ I would call it a game, like alien invasion. And then the kids loved it,” Sardinas said.
He added that his job “rewards him every day,” stating that he regularly stays after hours every day to work on skills with kids struggling with confidence or form. He added that it “never gets old” to see a player overcome doubts or master a particular skill.
“I want the kids to know that they can do the hard things,” Sardinas said. “You see their face light up when they do it.”
Learning to overcome difficult challenges on the court can help provide kids with experience to figure out difficult problems in the rest of their lives, Sardinas added.
“At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what we can teach them that they bring outside the court, maybe into the classroom or into their home.”
Segura, on the other hand, has been nominated for his role as a physical education teacher for K-5 students in South Ozone Park. Segura strives to inspire his students to gain confidence and find happiness through sports, aiming to contribute to their personal growth.
Segura’s goal is to enhance his after-school physical education programming by expanding access to equipment and fitness activities. He also aims to improve social-emotional learning and strengthen community connections through sports and physical education.
Doyle, known throughout the Rockaway community as “Skippy,” began her coaching career with CYO before founding Skippy’s Basketball, a series of youth clinics, summer camps and programs open to players of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels.
Doyle aims to use basketball to teach the values of inclusion, teamwork and community engagement in addition to skill development. She works extensively with children with special needs by introducing them to sports in a supportive environment.
Giving back is a core part of Doyle’s programming, with her annual 3-on-3 by the Sea Memorial Tournament bringing roughly 100 teams to the Rockaways every year. The tournament, held in honor of her friend Clare Droesch, raises funds for the Clare Droesch Foundation to aid families in need, and supporting scholarships at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy, Christ the King High School and Boston College.
