Basketball has been a big part of new California Pintos boys basketball Head Coach Ron Lebel, since he was a child.
"I've always been in a gym, since I could remember," Lebel said. "I started way back in fourth or fifth grade, I played high school basketball, played on a state championship team in high school and played a little junior college basketball. Ever since I could remember, I always wanted to be a basketball coach. This is what I wanted to do, since day one."
Before coming to California, Lebel was the coach for Montgomery County High School for four years. He has been a coach in basketball for around 22 years.
Family was a big reason why he decided to come to California. His family moved to be somewhat close to his wife's parents and grandparents, who live in the Sedalia area.
"Mainly, it was just trying to get her back home, where she can go visit family and friends, and it was mainly to get her back home to where she wanted to be," Lebel said.
He said he wants his players to play hard and respect the game of basketball. He said he wants his players to compete every day, as he felt that basketball is like life.
"You go out and compete every day, you compete for putting a roof over your family's house," Lebel said. "So, my message is to play hard, play together, have fun at it and treat the game with respect."
Lebel enjoys being with his players and trying to get the most out of them.
"We have 33 kids on our team, and my goal is to try to see if we can make all of them better," Lebel said. "We will see if we can make them work as a team and basically enjoy being around (basketball). I enjoy the coaching scheme of it and trying to make a young man into a basketball player."