Sil Coccia’s coaching philosophy centered around having the team act as a single unit, rather than as individuals. Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
History was made this year at Sonoma Valley High School. Through January and February, the local sports scene was thriving due to an exciting season that saw girls basketball at the high school reach its highest point in nearly 25 years.
Sil Coccia, the varsity Lady Dragons basketball coach, stresses the idea of teamwork. He is adamant about having his team act as a single unit rather than as individuals, and because of that, the Dragons enjoyed historic success.
Coccia had been a tough sports competitor during his days as a high school athlete. Even if it was 30 seasons ago, he had learned first-hand how important team mentality is, not just for a successful season, but also for a successful life.
Thanks to an old high school teammate, Coccia found the bridge that connected his own high school sports experience to the one he enjoys now.
A couple of years ago, Coccia heard from someone whose name was very familiar, even if he hadn’t seen the man in over a quarter of a century. John Bubrick was a teammate at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, N.J. After Bubrick’s family moved there during their seventh-grade year, he and Coccia established a bond as teammates and friends.
Basketball and baseball were the sports for them, and they formed quite a duo as a backcourt tandem in basketball and a double play combination up the middle in baseball. During their junior year, the baseball twosome was split up when Bubrick made the varsity team and Coccia didn’t, but it was on the basketball court that they forged their best connection.
Backcourt teammates during their entire tenure at Governor Livingston, both young men realized that the relationship with teammates were not all that different from those in everyday life. But, in their case, sports created a bond distinct from all others.
“When you’re teammates, you go through stuff that most relationships go through,” said Coccia, “and even though those relationships might not last, you never forget the bond you form when you’re on a team. It’s a special relationship between yourself and your team that doesn’t really leave you.”
Coccia and Bubrick were part of a decent squad during their senior year, going 11-14, but were never a part of a great team like Coccia had this year, leading his Lady Dragons to one of the best seasons in school history as they compiled a 21-7 record, earned the first Sonoma County League title for Sonoma since 1984, and were chosen for a berth in the North Coast Section playoffs.
“We were always competitive,” said Coccia of his high school team, “but we were in a tough league and were around .500 our senior year, which was probably our best year.” The Highlanders returned four seniors and nine varsity lettermen for that 1976-77 season and played in the Watchung Conference of Union County in New Jersey.
After graduation in 1977, the two went their separate ways – Bubrick to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. and Coccia to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Bubrick tried to play baseball at Cornell, but after that didn’t work out, he completed his degree in economics, and then earned a graduate degree in business from Columbia University.
Both went on to have successful careers unrelated to sports, as Bubrick became a management consultant and Coccia pursued a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Bubrick’s constant travels didn’t allow him too much time to stay in contact with his old teammate, but when he heard that Coccia was coaching the Lady Dragons, Bubrick reached out to his old backcourt teammate after nearly three decades.
In 2006, Bubrick invited Coccia to celebrate March Madness in Las Vegas, Nev., where they would be able to watch all the action at the sports books in the casinos. Of course, as sports fans in Sonoma are accustomed to seeing when Coccia is on the sidelines at the Lady Dragons basketball games, Coccia arrived dressed to impress.
“We get there, and then here comes Sil, looking like something straight out of ‘The Sopranos’,” said Bubrick, who reports that there were no incidents of a jacket being thrown in the vicinity of any of the sports books after a blown call from a referee.
Since that meeting, Bubrick and Coccia have been in contact very often, and will be returning to Las Vegas shortly for another run at March Madness.
Last October, the two men, along with some of their former teammates, decided to attend their 30th high school reunion. On the Friday afternoon before the reunion, they joined two other starters from the basketball team and met up with their old coaches Jerry Britt and Ralph Bianchi.
Both coaches were beloved by their players, but a controversial decision by the school board relieved the coaching staff of their duties before the group’s senior year in that 1976-77 season, something that still doesn’t sit well with many of the players, including Bubrick, when looking back on their time as part of the basketball team.
“The only bump in the road was that the school robbed us of coaches for whom we had played for years,” said Bubrick. “The administrators hired a replacement for Bianchi who really screwed up our senior year.
Bianchi eventually got fed up with coaching and retired, even turning down a chance to assist his good friend and legendary Villanova coach, Rollie Massimino, before settling into the investment industry. He is nearing 20 years in the business and is close to retiring.
Nevertheless, the reunion of the starters with their coach brought back many good memories of years past for the old friends, especially for Coccia, who himself had become a high school coach like Britt and Bianchi before him.
Sadly, on Nov. 2 of last year, three weeks after the players had met with their coaches, Britt died. Coccia decided to honor his coach’s memory by dedicating the 2007-08 Dragons season to him, and he is convinced that doing so helped mold their season.
“I’m not really a spiritual guy,” said Coccia, “but there is little doubt in my mind that Coach Britt was watching over us the entire season.”
Now, Bubrick lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., continuing his career as a consultant, and he was one of many avid followers all over the country who listened to the Lady Dragons broadcasts on the Sonoma Valley High School Sports Stream at www.KSVY.org. They included many of Coccia’s family and friends.
“KSVY allowed a lot of people who were close to me to listen to the broadcasts and follow the team through a great season,” said Coccia.
When looking back on his time with Coccia, Bubrick had nothing but good things to say about his former teammate.
“I consider him a lifelong friend, a terrific and consummate teammate, loyal to the core, and I am really glad for all his success,” said Bubrick. “He is a fierce competitor and did more with his athletic talent than nearly all the teammates I had, combined. I will always remember the times I had with him and Coach Britt.”
Coccia hopes that he can have a bond with his team like he had with his coach, and that his players can have a lifelong bond with each other similar to the one he shares with Bubrick today.
“I hope that 15, 20 years down the line, I get a call from somebody like Sarah (Semenero) talking about how her kid had a great game,” said Coccia, “There are many things that might be temporary in this world, but being part of a team lasts forever.”
