‘The only thing I knew I had to do was fight’: Coach teaches kids to take a different approach

While needing to throw a few punches growing up black in Kentucky, one basketball coach is encouraging youth to find another way and changing how they approach life.

Dwane Casey, the former University of Kentucky basketball standout, said the growing up he was often the only African American in the gyms and was often targeted because of that. In Casey’s speech at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg on Oct. 12, he described his life and growing up in Kentucky with the discrimination he faced and overcame.

“The first instinct you want to have is to fight, which is wrong. But that’s what I did. That was a mistake,” said Casey. “I wasn’t articulate enough to talk them out of how they felt, I wasn’t as informed as far as what their parents had taught them. So the only thing I knew I had to do was fight. That’s what I tell my kids. And, unfortunately, today there are situations that you know you have games you have other situations where there is violence and that’s not the way to do that.”

Casey, 62, grew up in Kentucky playing basketball and baseball. He would receive his first coaching job at the age of 13, where he coached little league, with kids being three years younger than him. Now, Casey is coaching the Detroit Pistons and won the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year, with the Toronto Raptors and was an NBA champion in 2011, as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks.

The Amherstburg Freedom Museum launched their ‘Freedom Achievers’ campaign and mentorship program in front of a sold-out crowd of over 200 people, with Casey as the keynote speaker on Saturday. The ‘Freedom Achievers Program’ is put on in partnership with the Amherstburg Community Foundation. The campaign is designed to connect successful achievers and mentees in hopes of inspiring youth, providing insight on potential career paths and network with high-profile speakers and professionals.

Casey said that he believes sports are what really began to open doors and change how he and others were viewed, knocking down several of the barriers.

“My blood is the same, it bleeds red, just like anyone else,” said Casey. “We’re not where we used to be as far as diversity, and we’re definitely not, where we should be but we’re making steps. There’s still issues. So let’s be inclusive, a more inclusive society in everything we do and say.”

The Amherstburg Freedom Museum hopes to continue this program, with keynote speakers coming every quarter. The next event is in March of 2020.