DOTTY 2024 Awardee Adrianne Bunbury: Bouncing to Fame

The first impression one gets when they meet Coach Adrianne Bunbury, Asphalt Green’s Director of Coaching, is that he is a calm, confidence-inspiring person.

Like many coaching greats, Bunbury’s story begins in Brooklyn, where his two older brothers introduced him to sports. “We all attended the same elementary school, P.S. 198, two blocks away from our house,” Bunbury recalled. “After my brothers graduated elementary school, the playground became a sacred place where we could always go back together to see old friends and play the sports we love.”

Bunbury is a multi-sport athlete, playing football and basketball and competing in outdoor track.

Although he had aspirations of becoming a Division I athlete in college, Bunbury’s personal drive exceeded the coaching resources available to him at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, where he graduated in 2013.

“With these experiences in mind,” Bunbury explained, “I made up my mind to study sports to help the next generation behind me.”

Bunbury started working at Asphalt Green’s Battery Park City location shortly after it first opened in 2013, and embarked on a career path that made him a beloved figure in the downtown basketball community.

“The thing that has kept me going this long is how much the community has embraced me and how much I enjoy working with my manager, Basketball Operations Director, Chris Cassels,” he said.

Over the years, his coaching gained recognition beyond the Battery Park community. While coaching basketball, the New York Knicks recognized Bunbury’s team as the “Ultimate Youth Basketball Team.”

This acclaim came out of the travails of the COVID “lockdown” period, which was especially stringent in New York City.

Bunbury told Our Town Downtown this inspiring story in his own words.

“In 2021, the Knicks wanted to highlight a program that was really providing a service for the youth, and Asphalt Green did everything they could during the pandemic. Prior to reopening, connecting with the kids was pretty tough. Our athletes didn’t have the same drive to work out because they had to do it from their homes, but our coaches showed up virtually every week no matter if attendance was high or low.”

“Asphalt Green was also one of the first facilities in New York that allowed kids to play an indoor sport such as basketball with a set of new safety measures in place. We gave the athletes a place to work out as well as connect with their friends and teammates they hadn’t seen in months...We held workouts for travel teams, hosted other programs in our facility following strict COVID guidelines, and we competed in a few tournaments that aligned with the same guidelines we were following.”

In addition to his well-earned director of coaching title, Bunbury is also the head coach of the boys’ sixth and seventh grade teams. “Working with the kids in the community is probably my favorite part of the job,” he said. “I’m on the floor with my teams at least four times a week and at weekend games. When it comes to classes and recreational leagues, I make sure to step on the floor to give pointers to athletes and begin building those relationships.”