Jake Ciofalo (“Mr. C”) Launches A New Basketball Program At Sanderling Waldorf School

When one of Sanderling’s newest teachers, Jake Ciofalo, decided to form a new basketball program at Sanderling Waldorf School, it was a pretty big deal. While Sanderling has participated in other kinds of competitive teams and tournaments in its 23 year history, basketball was never one of them. Part of the reason for this was simply that there was an absence of staff who were equipped to properly launch, grow and maintain such a program. But, when Mr. Ciofalo was recently asked by the Sanderling administration to start a middle school sports program; he didn't hesitate to agree, selecting basketball as his first focus. And we know that “Mr. C”, as the children affectionately call him, is the perfect person to bring our school's vision for a comprehensive sports program to life!

Mr. Ciofalo is a very experienced athlete and coach. He was a college pitcher for Pepperdine University and was drafted into the New York Mets’ Minor League system as an early pick his junior year in college. He later coached his Waldorf high school son in basketball who received Division I college scholarship offers. He was also the middle school basketball coach at the Waldorf School of Baltimore for three years for both the boys and girls teams. In fact, the girls won competitive league championships in Baltimore each of the three years that he coached. He hopes to bring his breadth of experience to help build the middle school sports program at Sanderling Waldorf School.

Mr. Ciofalo is more than just an experienced athlete and coach. He is also a seasoned Waldorf middle school and high school teacher, and a former college professor with 3 decades of teaching experience. This impressive educational background only deepens Mr. Ciofalo’s ability to help Sanderling students achieve all the benefits that a quality sports program can provide.

We sat down with Mr. Ciofalo to gain his valuable insights on his new endeavor:

“I am delighted to begin to plant the seeds of sports teams in the middle school once again at Sanderling. Having participated in movement activities to nurture physical and social skills in the earlier grades, the student athletes are developmentally ready to apply these skills in competitive athletics in middle school. The main thrust of competition is the opportunity to both win and lose with grace. Emphasis is placed on building character development through good teamwork, while developing solid individual skills. Basketball is such a wonderful sport in terms of quickening eye-hand coordination, the ability to stop on a dime, jumping, moving backward, and utilizing will work to practice, practice, practice! There are no shortages of basketball hoops in parks and on garages. It becomes a passion as a conduit toward building confidence and the opportunity to compete at the next level of high school athletics.”

Indeed, participation in sports can equip a youth with a myriad of skills and values that can be transferred into many other areas of their lives (i.e. classrooms, relationships, etc). These skills and values will follow them well into their adult lives and will serve them well in their careers and in their families. With this in mind, we can all agree that sports are so much more than just sports, and basketball at Sanderling Waldorf School is so much more than just basketball. We are so grateful to “Mr. C” for sharing his extensive experience, knowledge and passion to launch such a beneficial program for the middle school students here at Sanderling Waldorf School.