Larry L. Merritt Founder & CEO
A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Merritt began his basketball career at Cathedral High School and was a multi-sport athlete receiving All-Scholastic, Player of the Year, and Dream Team honors.
Merritt received a full-four year basketball scholarship and a B.S. in Business Administration from Merrimack College where he served as Team Captain during the 1995-1996 season. Merritt coaches the 13U, 14U & 15U Bengals Boys Teams. Read More...
In his junior year, he was named the Lawrence Boys Club MVP by its club members and the Merrimack College Men's Basketball Team MVP and selected to the NCAA Division II New England All-Star Team in his senior year. In 1995, Merritt founded Brothers & Sisters United, the first multicultural student/staff organization on campus, whose mission was to educate and build diversity on campus, and to recruit and retain students and staff of color at Merrimack College.
Merritt has received community service awards such as: the Nelson Mandela Youth Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award, Malcolm X Community Service Award, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Senate Citation, Commonwealth of Massachusetts House of Representatives Citation and the City of Boston City Councilor's Citation, the Governor of Massachusetts Citation for his tireless commitment to the young people in the City of Boston.
Elliot Fontaine
Coach Elliot is in his fourth year with the MABC Bengals as Head Coach of the 13U/7th Grade Boys team. Fontaine spent most of his childhood days at the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club (MA), where he was taught the game of basketball by local coaching legend Steve Kelly. Through Kelly, Fontaine learned the value of structure and discipline, and later began attending the annual Academic Basketball Awareness Camp (ABA) at Merrimack College in Andover, MA. Participating in the annual ABA camp led to the opportunity for Fontaine to attend high school at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, NH. Read More...
While there, Fontaine was a member of the Brewster team that won the 1988 New England Class B Championship and also traveled to Japan with the team to conduct mini basketball camps for children in Osaka and Tokyo.
Fontaine later earned a full basketball scholarship to attend the Division I school Lafayette College in Easton, PA. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, he later went to work for the Waltham Boys and Girls Club (Waltham, MA) where he coached the high school division team, as well as facilitated instructional basketball clinics with the Boston University and Brandeis University Men’s Basketball teams.
Coach Fontaine went on to volunteer for the Chelsea Youth Basketball League (Chelsea, MA), coaching for the Junior Division (8-10 year olds) from 1999-2001. The following year, he was selected as both the Junior Varsity Head Coach and the Assistant Varsity Head Coach at Chelsea High School, where Fontaine helped the varsity team qualify for the MA State Tournament the next three years.
Last year, under Coach Fontaine’s direction, the 10U/4th Grade Boys MABC team finished as the New England AAU Super Regional Bronze Medalist, the MABC Bengals Spring Showdown Champions, the Mass Rivals Mill City Madness Champions, the Massachusetts AAU State Championship Silver Medalist, and traveled to participate in the AAU National Championships, in Cocoa Beach, FL.
Coach Fontaine lives in Chelsea, MA with his fiance Ramona Foster, and their four children, Terrell, Isaiah, Ramona and Sophia. Together they volunteer to increase the self-confidence of their young student-athletes by creating a nurturing environment where they can learn, grow, improve individual skills and develop character, all in support of the MABC mission.
James Morris
Coach Morris joined MABC in 2009 and he currently the Head Coach of the 12U/6th Grade Boys Team. Read More...
Vincent Connelly
Coach Vin is a former Division I college basketball player. He brings a strict discipline and emphasis on fundamental skills. He teaches players how to practice alone to become skilled shooters, passers, and dribblers. His ability to motivate athletes to play as a team allows his players to compete at a high level. He always believes he can win.
Coach Vin has coached competitive teams in Brookline Public Schools, Brookline Travel, AAU, and BNBL summer leagues for grades 5-9 for the past decade. He works full-time as a chef consultant, helping schools in the area prepare healthier lunches. He has published several health-oriented cookbooks. Vin's son Joe Connelly plays for the "Bengals" 10th grade team.
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Serafino Bocchino
Coach "Bo" has been coaching AAU since 1999. He joined the MABC coaching staff in 2005 as the Director of Player Development. He has been a member of the I.A.A.B.O Board 27 (Referee association) since 1988. He is the Founder & Director of Saugus Travel Basketball and a Boston Community Schools Volunteer. Serafino's son Peter Bocchino plays for the "Bengals" 15U/9th Grade Team.
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Kareem Porter
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LaWan Swain
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Earl Stephen
Earl Stephen joined the MABC coaching staff in 2006 as an Assistant Coach. He continued his passion for coaching in 2007, leading the 5th grade boys team to an AAU National Championship title. In 2008, he served as both Head Coach of the 7th grade boys black team and Assistant Coach of the 8th grade boys black team who ranked 4th in the country in the 2008 AAU National Championships. His greatest joy comes from coaching his 12 year old son Earl Jr. who began playing with the MABC Bengals in 2006. Earl is a native of New York City and currently resides in Boston, MA.Read More...
Anthony Berry
Coach Freddie joined the coaching staff in 20010 as the head coach of the 10U/4th Grade Team.
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Gary Jackson
Corey Whitehall moved to Boston from Barbados (West Indies) in his primary years and is a graduate of Hyde Park High School (Class of 1995). He loves working with kids and has been coaching basketball since 1997. He began coaching in Boston's BNBL League and went on to acquire a position at Hyde Park High school in 1999. He came to the MABC family in 2007 volunteering first with the SADBC basketball camp in the fall and spring of 2008, and then went on to coach this past AAU season for the 3rd grade and 7th grade boys orange teams.
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