Don D'Amico

 

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2012
Inducted : March 2013, Rochester, NY

 Don has been a coach in the Rochester area for over 35 years. He has coached youth soccer (8 years), youth football (16 years), youth baseball (25 years) and youth basketball (35 years). He also coached boys high school basketball for 5 years and currently coaches JV Girls basketball (8th season) at Pittsford Mendon.  Over the years, he has had only 1 season with a sub .500 record.The basis for his team's success is practice/fundamentals, coaching development to each individual player, and stressing team-first concepts.

Over the years Don has added more administrative roles while continuing to coach. He created the first baseball travel program in the Rochester area in 1988 and subsequently started a summer travel baseball league.  He joined the Monroe County Baseball Region organization in 2004 as a director. Through his guidance, the league migrated to USSSA in 2005, and has grown from 40 teams to over 200 sanctioned teams in 2012. Don also organized the very successful USSSA/MCBR day at Frontier Field hosted by the Rochester Red Wings for the past 7 years.  

Don created the first area basketball travel basketball program (CYP-based in Pittsford, NY) in 1982. The program had 15 players the first year and has had over 200 participants each year for the past 20 years. Don readily shares his knowledge with other area programs as they are being formed. Don initiated the USSSA Greater Rochester Area Youth Basketball league in 2007 for all area travel teams. The basketball tourneys all became USSSA tourneys in 2004. There are over 300 USSSA sanctioned teams each year that participate in the tourneys and league.

Don is a 30 year varsity high school basketball referee. He has played USSSA softball for over 30 years with a variety of teams.  Don has been a USSSA baseball and/or basketball assignor and director the past 10 years. 

Don attributes much of his organizational and coaching abilities to his business career (Eastman Kodak/Rochester Telephone), education (MBA/BA-University of Rochester; Webster Central Schools) and family upbringing. 

Don thanks his parents/grandparents/Aunt Carol for providing a sound foundation of ethics and moral values. He thanks his friends, umpires, referees, coaches, players, program directors, Gary Godden (for his support and introduction to USSSA), and parents of players, for all their assistance is creating a great environment for USSSA youth Basketball and Baseball in the Greater Rochester Area. 

And most importantly, Don thanks his wife Lori and sons Michael and Matthew for all their support over the years, providing the opportunity to coach and organize youth sporting events. It certainly was a lot of fun being able to coach Mike/Matt in the various sports for many years. Don adds he will never forget all the wonderful memories and the friendships and relationships formed throughout his years of involvement in USSSA!