Kinston High's Assistant Coach Fink: Teaching Basketball Beyond Borders
Kinston High School's Assistant Coach Jackson Fink is passionate about basketball - but not just about the sport as we know it in the United States. His passion spans across continents, leading him to coach basketball camps overseas in Lithuania and Croatia for the past three years.
This summer marked Fink's first year in Croatia, after spending two summers coaching in Lithuania.
"Just getting acquainted with different basketball cultures and learning different things from new perspectives of the game has been great," said Fink.
He has worked with a variety of basketball professionals overseas, including European coaches, former professional players, and FIBA agents. Building relationships and learning how to communicate across cultures have enriched his coaching and personal experiences.
Fink's fascination with international basketball was ignited when his aunt and uncle hosted a Lithuanian foreign exchange student.
"His name is Gintautas Vileita and he played college basketball at Monmouth University in New Jersey before a successful professional career in Europe,” Fink shared. ”So I reached out to a Lithuanian FIBA agent about a camp he was starting and let him know I was interested in helping run it while mentioning how Gintautas was basically family. They knew each other, so I was offered a job to work the camp,"
Fink's international interests don't follow the usual path. “So many people like to visit countries like England, France, and Spain but I like to take some risks, live on the edge a little bit and go to places off the beaten path,” Fink stated. His next destination of interest is the Republic of Georgia for the upcoming summer, provided his schedule permits.
The ninth-year high school basketball coach, originally from Concord, NC, has spent the past five years teaching and coaching at Kinston. The game of basketball may have different cultures in each country and Fink believes that the tactical elements and emphasis on certain skills can vary widely.
"The basketball culture in Lithuania is very much like the basketball culture in Kinston. Kids are obsessed with it and it is the top sport," said Fink. "Each country is different. The biggest difference from a tactical standpoint of basketball is that over there the youth teams are required to play man-to-man, they can't press, and they can't set ball screens until I believe the age of 13 or 14."
These differences in tactics have helped Fink develop a richer understanding of the game, and he brings this knowledge back to his team in Kinston.
"Learning over there has been amazing and being able to take a few things away to help our program at Kinston has been beneficial for sure!" Fink enthused.
With a unique blend of local and global basketball experiences, Coach Fink truly is a gem that Kinston High School is fortunate to have, enriching the lives of students through the universal language of basketball.
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