Mike Weinstock
Is Not Ready To Retire Despite Meeting All Goals!
Mike Weinstock, the athletic director and girls’ basketball coach at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD), on the Gallaudet campus, had his future preordained in a statement that was muttered by Bob Bergan, his high school basketball coach. Bob said “Mike has always been interested in statistics.”
Because keeping stats indicates an aptitude for detail and planning, the ascendancy of Mike to the MSSD athletic director’s post last year was a perfect fit! Serving as athletic director for one of the nation’s biggest schools for the deaf is no picnic – dealing with schedules, budget, coaches, transportation, concession stands, etc – would drive frazzled athletic directors to distraction. Not Mike – he handles these details with aplomb.
Mike attended MSSD and played basketball and soccer. At Gallaudet he was a 4-season member of the varsity basketball team and a two-season starter. His job was grunt and dirty and often unappreciated by fans, and sometimes by teammates – to shove the opposing big men out of the paint, to grab rebounds and to set up screens and blocks.
All athletes have their own personal thrills or cherished memories. What was Mike’s? It was easy. “I grabbed 17 rebounds and scored 21 points against University of District of Columbia in my very last game as a collegiate player,” said Mike, proudly.
After Gallaudet, he continued to play basketball for deaf clubs such as MWAD, Block G and Baltimore Silent Oriole Club before calling it quits to move on to other things in life.
Still involved with basketball, Mike is now in his 11th season as MSSD girls’ basketball coach. He also served a season as the boys’ coach. His best team was the 1988 team that went 26-3 and easily captured the Deaf Schools National Team of the Year honor. “We were 26-1 with just two games remaining, but we lost the last two games due to injuries to my key players,” Mike moans. Another honor he would cherish is being named as the Deaf Prep Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year in 1995 by the Silent News.
This is not all. Mike coached the USA/WGD women’s basketball team to a gold medal at the 1997 WGD at Copenhagen. How did he become a coach was a matter of circumstance and luck. The AAAD selected a head coach and an assistant to serve with the women’s team. Mike went to the women’s basketball tryouts at the Deaf Sports Festival in 1996 to help out with the program. The head coach walked out, unable to deal with personal problems. The assistant coach was not ready to assume the head coaching load. So by default the job was given to Mike! It worked out well – the gold medal itself is the evidence.
The championship game at Copenhagen was an interesting experience. Gallaudet just came off a great season which included participation at the national NCAA-III tournament. Responsible for Gallaudet’s great season were 6’2 Ronda Jo Miller, Theresa Rollven and Touria Ouahid. Well, at the championship game Miller played for USA whereas Rollven and Ouahid played for Sweden! It was a very emotional game and Miller, down with flu, did not play well, but at least the Americans won.
Mike had 3 goals he set out for himself when beginning his coaching career – to win the Team of the Year honor, to win the Coach of the Year honor, and to win the WGD gold medal. He met these three goals, but is not ready to retire yet. “What’s next for me” is the question Mike has been asking himself.
Perhaps his next goal is to watch deaf sons Jamie, 13, and Joshua, 11, develop into well-rounded players for the MSSD varsity basketball team when they are ready. “Both of them are late bloomers just like me,” said proud daddy Mike.
Mike is not all basketball. He and wife Janet live in GlennDale, MD. Their house could be mistaken as a museum. Mike likes to collect antiques, and visitors will gaze at the artifacts mounted on the shelves and on the walls. “I think I have tooooo many hobbies, but lately I enjoy collecting bird houses,” said Mike.
