Italian coach teaches basketball to kids in China

HAIKOU－Every Saturday morning, Gianmarco Sapio turns up to the court of the NBA Basketball School in Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan province, ready to teach children how to play basketball.

The 33-year-old, from Naples, Italy, has been a basketball coach in China for eight years, and is now the basketball technical director of the Haikou school.

"In sports, the most important thing is to love what you do, especially when you are very young," says the coach, adding that interest is the best teacher.

The first thing he teaches the children other than skills is to love the game, respect teammates and follow the rules.

Sapio fell in love with basketball at the age of 6. "When I played, I always had a better understanding of the game than my peers."

It was the passion for basketball that kept Sapio playing, and when he taught his first class at 18, it was then that he knew he "just could not live without it".

He says: "I love being on the court with the kids, having fun, and sharing my knowledge with them."

Before he started working in Hainan in 2019, Sapio had worked in Shanghai and Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province. He received his first job offer in China in 2013 as a sports consultant in basketball operations for a sports club located in Shanghai.

"I love coaching players from different countries and different cultures, so I accepted the offer without hesitation," Sapio says.

What drove the Italian to Shanghai was not only his personal obsession with the sport, but also the basketball market in China.

When he served as U15 team head coach in Dongguan Basketball School, he led the team to victory, twice winning China's national U15 championships.

Sapio won the CBA Youth Coach of the Year award in 2018, making him the first coach from overseas to win the honor.

He has lived in Haikou for two years.

"The climate in Hainan is similar to my hometown. The summer here lasts a long time, and winter is really short. I enjoy the sun, beaches and the sea," he says.

A few months ago, Sapio got his driver's license. He likes to drive along the seaside and go to different cities in Hainan. "I'm trying to learn how to surf."

After spending eight years in China, Sapio says Chinese and southern Italians have a lot in common. "We are all friendly, adaptable and passionate about life."

He likes Chinese food, especially leek-stuffed jiaozi, or dumpling, which reminds him of ravioli.

Xinhua