Knicks Honor Upper West Side Coach For Courage Fighting Cancer

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Carolyn Clark had been coaching basketball at an Upper West Side church for over 10 years when she received her breast cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2021.

After a period of devastation, she decided she was going to keep working and coaching.

Now, the 58-year-old mother of two who finds time to coach basketball and volunteer at her church — while working a full-time job — has been named a finalist for the 2022 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year award presented by Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).

"Once I found out (diagnosis), you get devastated, for me though, my spirituality helped me," Clark told Patch. "I told the kids about the diagnosis so they can see my strength and how I'm handling it. I kept coaching and praying with the girls."

Clark coaches middle school and high school basketball at Central Baptist Church, which sits at 166 W. 92nd St. (between Amsterdam and Columbus).

"I’m excited because I’m passionate about what I do," Clark said when asked about what her nomination meant. "About basketball, it’s more than just basketball for me. I’m more than just a coach to my players.”

Clark works with the different teams at the church on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, while also organizing practices on Mondays.

“What I tell my players is that you have a lot of coaches out there that just want you for your skill, but I’m not all about that," Clark told Patch. "I’m all about making you an all-around person because at the end of the day basketball might not always be there for them and they need something to fall back on.”

“I’m there to be positive, competent, have confidence and build their morale and all that, so when they leave, they are positive role models for wherever they go," she added.

Part of the coaching process that Clark enjoys is taking footage of the players during practices and games, which they can use to send to colleges and also use to see how they can improve.

She helps with the college application process, letters of recommendation, and will reach out to college's athletic departments for her player's families.

Clark found out she had breast cancer in November of 2021, when she went in for a routine mammogram screening.

Her players were supportive throughout the entire process.

"They were supportive and once I finished my radiation and I posted that I had finished, they were very happy and when I told them at practice they were ever happier and gave me hugs and claps," Clark told Patch.

Clark sheepishly admitted that she isn't actually a Knicks fan. Her son is, but she's always been a Philadelphia 76ers fan since the days of Dr. J, Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks.

She made sure to emphasize, though, that she liked the college game more than the professional one since it's more team-based than the one-on-one isolation plays you see in the NBA and WNBA.

Her favorite team is the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

“I feel that as the program director and the coach, what I emphasize is not just about basketball, we don’t have tryouts, we’re a free program, I don’t care if a kid doesn’t know how to play basketball as long as they’re willing to come in and learn," Clark said.

"If they have the enthusiasm to want to play, we’re there to teach them. I don’t want them just for their basketball skills, we have mentoring, tutoring, spiritual growth, community service, whatever they need to make them a positive role model, that’s what we’re there for," she added.

Clark also works in her own Harlem church teaching children's spirituality to second and third graders.

Within her church, she created the College Care Package Program, where she sends care packages to all the church's members currently in college twice a year, around fall and spring finals time.

The packages include a letter from the pastor, the daily word, supplies, and words of encouragement from church members letting them know there supporting them.

For her full-time job, Clark has worked at the Small Business Administration for the last 33 years.

The winner of the Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year award will be announced in early June.