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Tarr accepts offer in Belize
By Joe Scalzo
Soon after Bernie Tarr finished his second year as head coach at Hubbard, he was playing a game of one-on-one with a fellow coach when a man named Lucius Mealer walked into the gym with his son, Shannon.
The game quickly turned into two-on-two and, afterward, Tarr struck up a friendship with Mealer.
“That summer I had watched my parents die within 45 days of each other and I was struggling,” said Tarr. “I was trying to turn the Hubbard basketball program around after back-to-back seven-win seasons and I was having a really tough time.
Mealer told him he needed to get away — and that he could make it happen.
“He told me he could get me to some country called Belize and he could help get it paid for if I would help out with basketball,” Tarr said. “I was like, ‘Where’s Belize?’ I had no idea.
“But the next thing I know, I was saying, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Sixteen years and several return trips later, that chance encounter has led to a permanent position for Tarr, a native of Niles who is stepping down as the head basketball coach at Bedford St. Peter Chanel to become Belize’s national basketball program development officer.
The 43-year-old Tarr, who has gone 258-154 at Badger, Hubbard and Chanel, was first approached about the job last summer by Paul Thompson, the president of Belize’s basketball foundation. Not wanting to leave Chanel, Tarr tried to convince Thompson to let him do the job on a part-time basis.
“But their goals and the direction they wanted to take Belize basketball required a full-time commitment,” said Tarr, who is not married. “Belize is the smallest country in Central America but he believes they have the athleticism to make it No. 1.
“That, combined with the fact that he wants to do it from the lower levels up, really attracted me.”
Tarr will oversee everything from recruiting kids to running camps to developing leagues. Best of all, he’ll do it in an English-speaking country that has a significantly lower risk of lake-effect snow.
“As I was packing my bag to leave, I was like, ‘I don’t need this, I don’t need that ...’” Tarr said. “I’m sure I’m going to miss the snow, though.
“It’s funny, I was talking to my girlfriend down there and she was telling me how a hurricane hit and the kids weren’t allowed to go to school. So, we’ve got winter and they’ve got hurricanes.”
Tarr plans to periodically return to Ohio, both to visit and to recruit coaches who can help not just with developing players, but also developing coaches.
“I want to thank all the people who I’ve worked with, from my Badger days to my Hubbard days to my Chanel days, and all the players to played for me,” Tarr said. “It’s because of them that this opportunity was presented to me.”