Adelky Paulino
Adekly Paulino, Bowling, Baseball and Basketball Coach at John Adams High School has won Positive Coaching Alliance’s coveted Double-Goal Coach Award presented by TeamSnap for his positive impact on youth sports.
Paulino is one of 50 national recipients of the Double-Goal Coach award, named for coaches who strive to win while also pursuing the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports. The award includes a $200 prize, a certificate, and mention within the websites and newsletters of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national non-profit developing Better Athletes, Better People through youth and high school sports. All 50 winners are provided two tickets to PCA’s National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Benefit Sponsored by Deloitte to be held at Maples Pavilion on Stanford University’s Campus April 28th, 2018 to receive recognition of their award.
“Coach Paulino helps athletes win in and out of sports,” said Darrell Johnson, PCA-New York City Chapter Executive Director. By creating a positive, character-building youth sports experience and serving as a Double-Goal Coach, Adelky helps youth develop into better athletes and better people.”
As a coach in an inner-city school, Paulino sees student-athletes from all walks of life. Many are dealing with difficult circumstances at home and many are new to this country and use sports as a way to meet people and assimilate into the community. These circumstances take an already difficult job of reaching kids to a new level, however, Paulino handles it perfectly. He is empathetic and welcoming and embraces the whole person. He uses team-building exercises to bring kids of differing backgrounds together and encourages them all with positive reinforcement.
As an immigrant from the Dominican Republic himself, Paulino relayed that sports was a huge part of his life and how he met friends when he first came to the United States. “Sports is a big part of their life...and it is an outlet for these kids”, he said. He works hard to provide positive, critical feedback because “many of the kids come from negative households so I try to stay as positive as I can. I’m like a father figure to them and if I’m not positive, they shut down.” To ensure that his body language stays as positive as his message to the kids, he tapes himself during coaching from time to time to ensure that he is aware of his actions.
Paulino’s motto of “one team, one vision, one goal, the team is my legacy” stays at the forefront of his approach to coaching. He helps his players find purpose in their lives through athletics and provides extra effort, love and support to help them achieve this. Many students travel great distances to get to school and after later practices Paulino will often spend his own money to ensure that the kids get a good meal before they take the long trip home. He builds them up and provides the support they don’t always get at home.