Time with family at holidays vital to national basketball coach Turner
Published:Friday | December 25, 2020 | 10:45 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer -
Jamaica senior men's basketball team head coach Rick Turner cannot imagine being away from family, especially his daughter, at this time of the year.
However, in 2008, after taking up a job as coach in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) he almost missed Christmas with his family, but was determined not to and made special arrangement to ensure that it never happened.
"It was really my first extended time away from my daughter who was about seven or eight years old," Turner said. "So I had to come home and see my daughter because that time period is the best time to enjoy Christmas as a kid. So I made arrangements to come home for Christmas just briefly for a couple of days."
He returned home to Kirkland, Washington DC, in the United States, just narrowly missing a large snow storm which would have delayed his arrival.
"That year, there happened to be a really unusually heavy snow storm, the exact day that I came home," Turner recalled. "There was about 12 inches of snow on the ground, which made it very cool and great to be home and have family at home, enjoying the time together."
He also spent a part of the holidays in China and that was also an unforgettable experience.
"What really really sticks out to me is a Christmas I spent in China, coaching in the CBA," he said. "Experiencing Christmas in China was really different, with all the traditional Christmas carols sung in Chinese."
But now, his dream is to one day spend Christmas in Jamaica.
"I would absolutely love to spend a Christmas holiday in Jamaica," he said. "It is 32 degrees (Fahrenheit, zero degrees Celsius) right now and I need to get out of the cold and get into the sunshine. Also, I would really love to see what happens there at this time of year."