The first thing Brian Forman wants you to know as he prepares to step down after 10 years as coordinator for the town’s youth basketball travel program is, “It takes a village.”
“The focus is more on the program and not on me,” he said. “While I may have been the head of the program, the success that we’ve had is because of the volunteers.”
Bedford Travel Basketball (www.bedfordtravelbasketball.com) is an independent non-profit that organizes and sponsors boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 3-8, with one, two, and occasionally three teams at almost each grade level, as many as 15 teams per year. With about eight on a team roster, there are about 160 players, up some 30 percent under his leadership. Games are in the fall and winter.
Thanks to Forman’s efforts, the teams compete in the massive MetroWest Travel Basketball League, comprising some 1,500 teams that extend from the Massachusetts South Coast to the Bedford area, then west to Fitchburg, and south to the Northborough area. Organizers “do a fairly decent job in matching you up and reducing the travel.”
“We added fourth and third-grade programs, so players are getting involved at a younger age,” Forman said. He sees a “growth spurt of youth sports across the state and country, and noted that he tried to grow “not just the talent but the level of interest.”
Forman, 54, played at Randolph High School and Skidmore College. He has served as a youth coach and referee and succeeded Jim Eliason as travel basketball coordinator about 10 years ago. “They were looking for someone who was passionate about basketball and had an interest in kids in the sport,” he said. He was recruited by former Buccaneers and longtime volunteers Tom Mulligan and Rick Proulx.
“Brian has a reputation for being fair, helpful, and maintaining the balance between having fun and helping kids be more competitive in basketball,” said Mark McInnis, program parent, and volunteer. “He has shown that he cares deeply about Bedford sports, and basketball in particular.” McInnis added that the coordinator works with the schools “to ensure gym space for dozens of teams.”
“As coordinator, you are relying on the coaches to teach the fundamentals You’re really dealing with complaints and grievances – and I’m a pleaser by nature.” He also developed referee training so young people from Bedford could officiate at tournaments. He is concerned about the aging pool of officials in every youth sport.
Forman said his years as program coordinator left him fulfilled “to pass on my basketball knowledge and watching kids grow and develop. And equally important has been getting to know the kids at a different level, just getting to know them.”
He cited the success of the two Bedford High School varsity teams last season – 29 combined victories – as another source of satisfaction. His son Matt, a senior, was a big contributor. ‘Watching kids play high-school ball was special to me, having seen the kids at a different level. It was really heartwarming to see the success they had.”
Forman said he has been passing the knowledge he absorbed from “all the mentors I had in my life,” not just skills in the sport but also “how to deal with adversity, how to work with teammates. Being a part of a team is probably the most important thing in my life.”
He said he will look for ways to continue to be involved, and especially hopes “to get more involved in games and have more impact teaching and coaching, being with kids and doing things the right way.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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