Basketball coach Martin is a man of many hats
| Thursday, Jan 22 2009 02:17 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:34 PM
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Michael Martin during a practice Tuesday with his Ridgeview Wolf Pack varsity girls basketball team.
Coach Michael Martin with the Ridgeview varsity girls basketball team at practice Tuesday.
Six times a week, Michael Martin has what you might call a two-alarm day.
Or, of course, you might call it a 100-mile day or a three-job day or a Bakersfield-then- Delano-and-back day or a cram-a-sack-of- basketballs-into-a-Mason-jar day.
But let's stick with the alarms. The first one goes off, Monday through Saturday, at 4:30 a.m. Martin, 37, drags himself out of bed — his wife, Marina, says she doesn't stir but that Michael's never had a problem waking — takes a shower, eats something and gets out of the door by 5.
Then he drives to Delano for his eight-hour shift as a corrections officer at North Kern State Prison. At 2 p.m., it's back to Bakersfield, time for a nap and the second alarm.
This is the one he worries about.
"My nap alarm is more important than the morning," Martin says. "Work is a priority, but I have to be here."
"Here" is Martin's passion. That's basketball, and in past years, that meant refereeing about 30 games a year, including, the past two years, the CIF state championships in Sacramento. But this past summer, he jumped at the chance to become Ridgeview's girls basketball coach and added that to his plate as well.
So, presuming alarm No. 2 does its job, Martin, a former West High and Bakersfield College player, heads off to run a Ridgeview practice or coach a game — the Wolf Pack is 10-7. Some nights, he leaves practice early so that he can ref a high school boys game or a junior college game.
"It's 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. I put a prison uniform on, then I put a coaching uniform on, then I put the reffing uniform on," Michael says. "I'm loving the hell out of it."
To do it, Martin has cut back his officiating schedule to about 20 games. But he's not ready to give anything up.
"I hated to give up anything basketball," he said. "But I cut back, and I gave up the (state championships) to come hang with the girls."
Marina Martin, for her part, helps out with the Ridgeview girls team and runs the club team Michael coaches in the summer, the Bakersfield Lady Dawgs.
"Work at the prison is No. 1; that's our support, and reffing is his getaway, so I let him do that," Marina says. "And then when it came time for coaching, I pretty much encouraged him to do it as well. This is a great opportunity for him to give back to Ridgeview and the community."
Both husband and wife agree their busy days are worth it. It's a chance for Michael to immerse himself in the sport he loves and to coach he and Marina's daughter, Nichole, who's a freshman at Ridgeview.
"I'm definitely excited," Nichole says. "Both (parents) do a lot, and I do feel blessed."
There are concessions: Michael and Marina set aside four days a month for dates, and on Sundays, Michael concedes, basketball is off-limits — unless the Lakers are playing.
But the other six days, that alarm isn't so unfriendly.
"At this point, I'm overwhelmed, but I love it," Michael says. "My first year at this level, it's been huge. If I'd have known we'd been where we are now, I'd do it all again. I'm having fun, and I'm loving basketball right now."
