Often overlooked, the junior college coach provides a pipeline to nearly every major NCAA D1 program in the country. What has always amazed me about what these guys do is the continual recruiting process that they have to manage — both coming and going. This episode’s guest is no stranger to the hard work that is required to maintain a quality JUCO program. Steven Mimms is in his sixth season as head coach at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey. He’s seen the program make some significant strides, including a season that saw Bergen rack up the most wins in school history.
In this episode, Coach Mimms talks about life in Division 3 of the NJCAA (no aid/tuition waivers), coaching any place and any time, growing up in an urban area that embraced baseball, how the Bergen AD took a chance on a young coach, balancing work/family/coaching, filtering responsibilities to players, selling the benefits of his school, fundraising, fields & facilities, and assistant coaches.
Here’s a link to the summer league that Coach Mimms mentioned: Metropolitan Collegiate Baseball League.
Notable quotes:
- “I love helping others.”
- “This can’t be it. I love this game too much.”
- “Behave like champions before you become champions.”
- “A coach’s wife’s life is tough.”
- “You can’t practice soft and play hard.”
Photo credit:Â Texas A&M Corpus Christi Athletics
Intro Music: Matt’s Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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Great interview with a great mentor and coach to our young students and athletes in Bergen County
Excellent interview. Coach Mimms is doing a phenominal job with the Bergen County Baseball team.