By By RANDI K. PICKLEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Chris Gessinger has been an avid sports fan since he was a kid. For the past 21 years (minus a four year hiatus when his job took over his weekends), he has had the chance to pass on his enthusiasm to young athletes who are part of the Niles YMCA's basketball program.
Gessinger volunteers his time to coach boy's and girl's basketball. "The schedule for the girl's team runs from November through mid-December, followed by the boy's in January. The program runs seven weeks and finishes with a tournament," he said.
Gessinger has had plenty of coaching experience. "I first coached FOP baseball 22 years ago when my oldest son was playing. I was a little tentative at first," he said.
Then he coached the All Star Teams and took them to the Eaton Park Invitational five years in a row. When he coached the Babe Ruth level of high school players, he led them to the State Championships four times.
Gessinger works for I/N TEK, which is a steel mill. He is a material control receiver for the company.
Gessinger also runs a seemless gutter business with his youngest son, Nick.
All three of his sons played basketball while growing up and their dad helped coach the teams. "One time I had to coach and referee at the same time," he said. "It was a little awkward."
Gessinger remembers working with Frelan Gowen, a fellow referee, when the fourth and fifth grade basketball teams were scheduled in the gymnasium at the same time. "He did one side of the gym with his kids and I did the other. It was pretty demanding … and pretty noisy," he said.
Active in sports from childhood on, Gessinger said, "I played sports my whole life. Whatever the season, that's the sport I played. In high school it was mainly baseball and golf. I was too short for basketball."
Both Gessinger and his wife, Gwen, are staunch University of Michigan fans. "We've had season tickets for the last 20 years," he said.
According to Gessinger, Gwen likes to come and watch his teams play, not only as a wife and fellow sports enthusiast, but as a mother. "She's been real supportive of me and our sons," he said. "We've been married 29 years."
Discussing what it takes to be a coach, Gessinger said, "You've got to like what you're doing. The kids have to relate to the coach and the coach has to be positive and teach the kids. They need to learn discipline and organization, but have fun as well."
Looking to his future as a coach, Gessinger said, "I really enjoy doing it. And I plan to be at it a long time … as long as my back holds out running up and down that floor."