By Rochelle Maruch Miller
All in One Athletics creates champions on court and throughout life. Acclaimed by parents, educators, and the young basketball players, All in One Athletics was created by Cleveland Woods and Dov Frier to bridge the gap between academics and athletics. It is the only camp to merge intense basketball instruction and academics into an educationally academic hybrid basketball camp. Their mission is to create better student athletes. All in One Athletics was founded as a Lawrence Middle School club, funded by the Lawrence School District. When the club lost funding, Coach Woods and Coach Frier decided to continue the club privately.
“We are professionals who create champions on the court and great people everywhere else,” Coach Frier explained. “We are New York State licensed teachers who truly care about the academic wellbeing of each and every one of our basketball players.” The program also stresses, teaches, and reteaches the fundamentals of basketball at every session.
Since its inception three years ago, All in One Athletics has provided over 200 scholarships to students across Long Island. “Our very first scholarship winners are now counselors teaching fundamentals to the next generation of kids,” says Coach Frier. “The families who send their kids to All in One Athletics refer to us as family.”
All in One Athletics strives to create true student athletes by merging intense basketball instruction with the rigors of the New York State educational standards. Working in tandem, with meticulous attention to every detail, Coach Frier and Coach Woods, each of whom is a consummate professional, have created an outstanding inclusive program, inspiring boys and girls ages five and over to build their basketball skills as well as excel in academics and develop social skills. Drawing a large contingent of enthusiastic young players from our community and schools, the program features girls-only clinics on Wednesday and Thursday nights and is attentive to accommodating special requests. Accordingly, Coach Frier will meet with parents who are interested in customized training for their children.
There is always something new and exciting transpiring at All in One Athletics. “In addition to our summer basketball camps, weekly basketball clinics and one-on-one sessions, we are starting leagues in March (details can be found on our website,” said Coach Frier. “Third- through fifth-grade boys, third- through fifth-grade girls, and sixth- through tenth-grade girls will be the first groups we work with.”
Instruction is led by Coach Woods, a former professional basketball player. A Brooklyn native, Cleveland Woods understood at an early age the possibilities of where education could take him. He received a full basketball scholarship to New Hampshire College, now known as Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), where he was introduced to a different way of life.
During his undergraduate years, while playing basketball for NHC, he was dubbed the Rubberband Man for the ease with which he maneuvered his 6’5” frame and 210-pound weight. Cleveland was All-American in 1986 and 1987 and was inducted into the New Hampshire College All American Hall of Fame in 1993. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in business management, Cleveland played in Europe for several years. Upon his return to Brooklyn, his journey of “giving back” began when he applied to the Board of Education for a teaching position. A gifted and beloved educator, Cleveland has been inculcating his students with a love for learning for over two decades. As well, he became the coach in Lawrence, the district in which he currently teaches. Not content to leave it at that, Cleveland mentors, teaches, advocates, and protects at home, in school, on the courts, in the street, and in places of worship—because he cares.
Cleveland and his lovely wife, Joliette Hall, are the proud parents of two sons and one daughter. It is his love for his own family that drives him forward with such purpose.
Dov Frier discovered his affinity for basketball at a tender age. His early childhood was spent crawling, then walking, around the University of Connecticut, where his father was earning graduate degrees. Already as a youngster Dov knew that basketball and education are a winning combination.
Dov brings a wealth of teaching as well as basketball experience to All in One Athletics. He has been working as an educator in the Lawrence School District for the past 14 years, bringing his passion for basketball to his classroom. Prior to teaching in Lawrence, he was a short trip down the road, teaching at Lawrence Woodmere Academy.
Dov is a former boys’ varsity basketball coach for Lawrence High School. He has worked as a basketball instructor, coached girls’ varsity basketball at Lawrence Woodmere Academy, and junior varsity at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore.
All in One Athletics is a member of the NBA, and is certified through USA Basketball. The program is ABA-certified as well as special-education certified. He added, “Our new website, AllInOneAthletics.com, allows customers to pay for our services and products and is user-friendly.”
That All in One Athletics is a program like no other is evidenced by enthusiastic responses Coach Woods and Coach Frier receive from the parents of their young basketball players as well as from the stars themselves.
“With all of the struggles and the strife today, I witnessed something great yesterday,” commented a parent. “Notice the diversity of all these kids between the ages of ten through eighteen, from all walks of life. Orthodox Jews, black, Hispanic, Indian—all ethnicities and cultures. No cliques, no discrimination, no singling out, no bullying, no mention of any race, religion, or color. These are kids; we are adults and we can’t figure out how to get along, but these kids can! All In One Athletics does a great job teaching basketball but an even greater job of teaching love and respect for one another!”
Judy G. expressed her appreciation to All in One in a heartfelt email to the dynamic duo. “Thank you, Coach Frier and Coach Woods, for teaching my kids that hard work can be rewarding. They had a blast, learned new moves in basketball and experienced something new about themselves. They worked out harder than ever before, laughed, smiled, and made new friends, and raised the bar for themselves. That’s priceless.”
For further information, please call 516-592-3656 or visit AllInOneAthletics.com.
Rochelle Maruch Miller is a contributing editor for the Five Towns Jewish Times. She is a journalist, creative media consultant, lecturer, and educator, and writes for magazines, newspapers, websites, and private clients. She welcomes your comments at Rochellemiller04@aol.com.
