We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darwin Zook. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darwin below.
Darwin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
When growing up a kid, it is so important to have a balance of toughness and compassion instilled in you. For me, I was fortunate to have parents that allowed me to pursue my interests and goals, even if it wasn’t always the “normal” path taken by others. I was always very into sports and competition from a young age. But, I think I even surprised my parents when in college at Fordham University, I suddenly elected to make a major life pivot and transfer to UC Santa Cruz for the opportunity to play college basketball. I was entering my Senior year at Fordham and was station director at WFUV radio, broadcasting the Fordham football and basketball games. I was skilled in broadcasting and had several great career opportunities lined up for when I finished college. Instead, I wrote my parents a note and explained that even though I had some lucrative opportunities in the broadcast world, it wasn’t in my heart at that time. It had always been a goal to play college basketball as well as live and explore the west coast. While I was a good high school player, I hadn’t put in the real time outside the court to get my body stronger and prepare myself to play at the next level. As had always been the case in my life, my parents supported me fully. There was never a question about money or career because they had instilled a self confidence in me from a young age that allowed me to feel like I could make my own decisions in life. Growing up in a small town in Germany for over 2 years at 5 and 6 years old, I had the freedom to explore the town, meet new friends, learn a new language and not be fearful of the unknown. The unknown can be exciting and allow for growth. Spontaneity and following one’s gut is where the real growth happens in life, instead of often just taking a traditional route. I took a year off from College after Fordham and trained rigorously for a year to be able to play at UC Santa Cruz. I made the team and was a two time co-captain and started my final two seasons. This led me into a passion for coaching, where I ended up coaching high school then college and onto my job now as director at WGV basketball. I was still able to also pursue a career in broadcasting over the last 20 years, despite having left those opportunities behind earlier in life. By having parents that supported my dreams and goals, regardless of how off the beaten path they may have seemed at the time, has allowed me to live a life filled with amazing experiences and with an excitement, instead of fear for the next step.
Darwin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As director at WGV Above basketball, I have been able to tie together many other jobs both inside and outside of coaching in my life. By playing soccer and basketball through high school and then later playing college basketball and semi pro football, I was coached by well over a dozen different coaches. In completing my Masters degree at Boston University in Education, I learned from even more coaches and people that had amazing experiences throughout their lives in coaching. There are so many ways to coach and staying true to oneself and your own style is most important. At WGV, this diversity in our coaches and their backgrounds has created a great culture and atmosphere. So many times in life, we want people to follow a uniform way of accomplishing something. For us at WGV, one of my goals is to allow every coach to find their own way of teaching and their own personality with all the kids. Sports is so much about diversity both in coaches and players. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to grow and develop at their own level. We’re all working together to create the best possible atmosphere. Having missteps or failures along the way are just part of the process and often those “failures” lead to an even better life lesson. If I’m most proud of one thing at my job now, it’s that we have begun to really create a family culture of open communication, toughness and compassion. Sometimes, programs simply try and follow a preset script that everyone must adhere to. This can be problematic as it can lead to stifling growth and doesn’t allow people to take risks and explore.. The goal is for all kids in our basketball program to enjoy playing basketball and being part of a team. Not everyone will go onto play college or even high school basketball, but hopefully some of the moments and lessons learned in our program at WGV will be part of each kid’s life as they continue to grow.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect in coaching is to see the growth from both players and coaches. This is often most noticeable when we coach teams. Seeing the excitement and support system a team provides is incredibly satisfying, because you can see kids realizing they are part of something larger than themselves. Team sports is the best way to learn about dependability, overcoming adverse moments and being part of a goal with everyone pulling in the same direction. There is a misnomer often in sports that there is one way to teach something and one way to learn it. Basketball is actually the ultimate form of creativity. While there are aspects to the game that need to be learned one way, 90% of the game is finding your own path and what you do well. Bringing your individual strengths to the floor in a team setting and excelling at them leads to a beautiful team dynamic. Being on a team where everyone has a role, provides a foundation for so many moments in life. Seeing the flow and creativity, when a great rebounder skies to grab the ball with two hands, outlets it to the point guard, who advances the ball to the wing and hits a cutter diving from the opposite side for an easy layup, as the players on the bench clap and cheer on their teammates…what is better than that!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
A frustration at times in life is when people think they have the answers in a field they haven’t spent much time studying and working in. Creativity and growth in a particular subject comes from listening, observing and reading about what others have done before you. Being willing to learn from others that have put in the time to be “experts” in their field can allow you as an individual to learn and form your own path. Too often, we think we have all the answers instead of having an open mind. We see this often in today’s society both inside and outside of sports where people display their opinions without truly understanding the background or time that others have put in before them. In order to truly be creative at something, it helps to have a comprehension of the past in that field. For me personally, despite having spent years in school and coaching at many different levels, I am always trying to learn and understand different ways of teaching something. Even in my broadcasting career, by learning others methods for relaying the information in a game, allows me to understand how I can add my own angle on and explore my own creativity. Without having the respect and understanding of others in their respective journeys, we will struggle to find diversity and growth on our own individual paths. I still need to catch myself often when I think I have the “right” answer on something in basketball or in the broadcast world. I need to remind myself that often there is no one right answer. There are many ways to learn or teach a new concept. The more we are accepting of the outside world and open to others views, while learning from the experts in our field, the better off we will be in our individual journeys.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://abovebasketball.com
- Instagram: abovebasketballwgv
- Linkedin: Darwin Zook
- Other: https://www.darwinzook.com
