We are thrilled to announce that Justin Cardoza has been named Soldier Coach of the Month for April 2025. Justin’s journey from serving in the US Coast Guard to becoming a dedicated basketball coach is truly inspiring. His coaching career spans over 25 years, during which he has made a significant impact on the lives of young athletes. Currently, Justin coaches for Gulliver Prep as the Boy’s JV Head Coach and Varsity Assistant and at St. Thomas University as an Assistant to the Men’s Basketball Team. His dedication to coaching and his ability to mold young men and women into better individuals are truly commendable. Learn more about Coach Cardoza’s journey and the impact he has made by reading his reflection below.
I’ve been coaching for about 25 years. I was stationed at District 7 Command in Miami, FL. While driving home one day (I would turn on different streets from time to time to learn my area better), I saw a field packed with kids, as it was the 1st day of baseball tryouts at Miami Shores Rec Center. I pulled over, and when I found out what was going on, I sought after the Director of the park and asked if they needed any extra coaches. The rest was history. I then had a friend ask me to help him coach an optimist club/rec team in his neighborhood. After a couple of years of that, I drove by a local high school and saw football practice going on. Like the rec center, I pulled into the school. While walking into the Athletic Office, a coach from the rec saw and recognized me. When he asked me what I was doing there, I explained I wanted to try coaching at the high school level. He walked me to the Athletic Director and Basketball Head Coach and I started off as the JV Assistant Head Coach.
The impact coaching has had on my life is unbelievable. Serving young men and women who are passionate about competing is priceless. Being part of their journey while helping to mold them is an award like no other. Coaching teams that compete for championships is intense. It’s exciting, stressful, fun, and heartbreaking all wrapped up together.
My military experience has helped me in my coaching career in many ways. Coaching is much more than X’s and O’s. The organization, the team building, the practice, and the adjustments are all extensions of things I gained and worked on in the military. Discipline, being on time, and leading a group of individuals for a common goal are just a few things that are so crucial to being a successful team, and all those things are second nature when you serve.
Soldiers To Sidelines has helped me by giving me a chance to give back to new and upcoming coaches. The platform has given me opportunities to work on presenting to others. When you teach, you have to organize your thoughts and information, which in turn makes you understand your subject even deeper. Soldiers To Sidelines has also given me opportunities to remember why I started this profession and has humbled me every time I’ve been able to present to new coaches coming up in the ranks.
The 1st Coaching interaction I can think of is on 2 separate occasions where I took 2-3 players with me to showcase camps. We had 4 or more hours of driving to the camps each way. While the players I took to those camps were different, the experiences both stand out. Both times we talked about so much more than basketball. We talked and even debated views of life and the world. Our bonds grew tighter. My players were more like nephews on those car rides, and I think we all learned a lot more about each other, which in turn made us trust each other more and be better teams.
Now that my youngest child is about to graduate from high school, I have been thinking about what direction I would like to take my career. I have been very content coaching high school and college, where I have been the past 4 and 6 years. I often think I may want to pursue a high level of college or take on a larger role on the college level. I often think about head coaching a high school team again as well. I’m blessed to be at 2 great programs working with amazing people, and I refuse to take that for granted or think I can just go anywhere else and be this happy and successful. My eyes and ears are wide open for what doors God may open for me, but in the meantime, I’m going to play the best role that I can where I am at.
The 2 most difficult challenges I’ve gone through as a coach would be getting fired from my 1st two jobs. I almost get emotional just thinking about it, as I really loved what I was doing and the players I was coaching. I felt hurt and crushed to the point that I thought about not coaching anymore. It’s tough to put all your energy and time into a program and community and then have them tell you ‘goodbye,’ especially when those programs were being successful. As the saying goes, everything you want is on the other side of hard.
Coaching can be one of the most ‘thankless’ jobs there is. Like teaching and serving our country, it can also be one of the most rewarding. We all want to win every game and championship, but there are no shortcuts. Coaching is about relationships. As a mentor of mine (Kevin Sutton) says, strive to create living trophies.
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