By Devonta Pettus
Darrell Mathis could have been a basketball coach. But it’s baseball the VOISE Academy freshmen physical education teacher chose.
“I decided to be a baseball coach rather than a basketball coach because I actually played baseball my entire life and know more about baseball than basketball,” said Mr. Mathis.
It all started when he was a 5-year-old kindergartener. He continued to play baseball in high school all four years.
Mr. Mathis said he was encouraged to play baseball because he was good at it and his friend played, too. His favorite player? Sammy Sosa.
He also has played basketball since he was 12 and in the sixth grade. He played intramural basketball, but it wasn’t his No. 1 sport.
“I watched the Bulls play – Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, B.J. Armstrong – the 90’s Bulls,” said Mr. Mathis.
In the end, he chose baseball because it’s not a very popular sport in high school, like basketball. So he tries to get more boys involve in the sport.
“I feel baseball is better because I know more about baseball, it’s my favorite sport, and it’s not very popular in the city. I’m trying to expose it more to kids. I know basketball and football are more popular, so I rather make basketball a lot more popular than it is now,” said Coach Mathis.