Photo by Doug Bessone
There is an air of relaxation and looseness in the varsity gym. The Boys Varsity Basketball players talk some friendly trash to a couple players from the girls’ team who have come upstairs to grab cones for their practice. As they take what seems like half an hour to tie their shoes on the mini-bleachers and possibly even throw on an unnecessary “shooting sleeve” or two, one player begins to recount a funny memory of something that happened his freshman year. Just as he’s getting to the “literally insane” part of the story, Clifton Brooks enters the gym through the doors nearest Coach Bergin’s and Coach Nurenberg’s office. Suddenly everyone seems to remember how to tie their shoes and they’re off…lap after lap…one big flock in an effortlessly synchronized orbit around the room.
Cliff Brooks is officially the head coach of the boys’ varsity hoops squad. When I met with Coach Bluth a few weeks ago to talk about handing over the reins to Coach Brooks, I merely expected to get a brief description of Brooks’ background and past coaching experience. What I had failed to realize at first was just how significant a turning point Bluth’s stepping down as coach is for Fieldston athletics. Before I could properly introduce Coach Brooks to the Fieldston community, I would need to explain how Fieldston sports came upon such a meaningful crossroads in the first place.
In the early-nineties, before Bluth was leading the Eagles to rivalry game victories against the likes of Riverdale and Horace Mann, he taught US history at a school in Harlem called the School for Academic and Athletic Excellence. At SAAE, Bluth says he “was the only white male teacher at the school and the students loved to mess with [him] because of it.” The ambitious then-history teacher enjoyed his time at SAAE. He’s even stayed in touch with several of his old students and friends there through Facebook. But when Bluth noticed a Fieldston advertisement for a physical education position in the New York Times, he immediately knew he wanted the job. He sent his resumé in and was interviewed by Coach Doug Bassone. The rest is history.
Photo by Doug Bessone
In Bluth’s first winter at Fieldston, he led Girls JV Basketball to an undefeated season. That spring, Karen Carter (the athletic director at the time) asked him if he had any experience in baseball. Bluth, who played Division One baseball in college, “told her of course.” So he then coached the JV baseball team to an undefeated season. As if Coach Bluth didn’t already have enough on his plate, Carter then asked him if he had any experience in tennis. Bluth said “yes” and went on to coach Varsity Girls Tennis to a second place finish in its league the following Fall. Fast-forward a couple years to 1997 and the jack-of-all-trades was named head coach of Boys Varsity Basketball and most importantly, athletic director.
“The job has changed since I took it over sixteen years ago,” Bluth said. “When I took over, we had some great players. But they weren’t given a great experience [before I got there]. So we not only had to build confidence in their physical performance, but we also really had to focus on getting these guys to love playing basketball again.” Bluth and his staff were successful in regaining a school-wide respect for the basketball team, as the Eagles turned in a string of successful seasons at the turn of the century.
After a decade and a half of hard-fought Ivy League battles, Steve Bluth had a feeling going into the 2012-13 season that his coaching career was nearing an end. “Before the season started last year,” Bluth recalls, “I told Laura Danforth that I was considering having the season be my last season coaching varsity basketball.” Then, during a practice on a Saturday in January, the now-former varsity basketball coach realized what he wanted once and for all. Bluth’s wife and daughters were ice skating while he was leading practice at school. He “turned to [then-assistant coach] Brooks and said, ‘you know it’s time to retire when you’d rather be ice skating with your family than coaching a practice.’”
So from that moment, Bluth knew it was time to move on from coaching. He simply didn’t possess the same competitive fire he had as a rookie in ’97. “The relationships were what I loved about coaching,” says Bluth, “but when losing is worse than winning is good, it’s time to walk away.”
While Coach Bluth clearly got a little emotional as he talked about watching basketball games from the stands this year, he’s excited to enter the next chapter of his athletic directorship. And not having to constantly worry about managing the Boys Varsity Basketball program will make it much easier for Bluth to truly supervise and support all sports teams at Fieldston year-round. As he noted, “I’m a huge control freak. Not having to think about preparing for basketball season in the Fall will be nice.” Bluth now looks forward to enjoying all winter teams, saying “I hope to be a fixture at swim meets and at hockey games and at track meets and at all levels of basketball. For the past sixteen years I haven’t had the chance to watch our other athletes excel. I hope not being coach anymore will allow me to appreciate all of our winter sports teams.”
As for how much control of BVB Bluth intends to keep, he said the following: “I hope for the team’s sake that I won’t have a significant hand in major basketball program decisions. In a way it’s unfair to the guys that I’m still working here. If the varsity basketball coach before me had still been working at Fieldston when I became coach, it would’ve been uncomfortable.”
Only time will tell if Coach Bluth made the right decision for himself. “I sincerely hope this was the right choice for me,” Bluth said. “In my heart I believe it was.” He smiled. “I know my wife and daughter are really happy.”
