COACHES & LEADERSHIP

Co-Founder, Ultimate Sports
Co-Founder and Director, Flight Elite (1997-2001 merged into NorCal Elite)

Phil served as a coach and athletic director at St. Stephen’s School in San Francisco before opening a sporting goods business in 1972. Phil’s career in the sports apparel business has spanned over 40 years.

Phil began sponsoring and coaching AAU youth basketball programs in 1992 and joined forces with Chris Whirlow and founded MVP Flight and Flight Elite Basketball in 1997. Phil takes pride in the fact that these programs pioneered year-round youth basketball in Northern California.

Phil also co-founded the Warriors Basketball Club with Ken Nelson and served with him as co-athletic director for St. Perpetua CYO. Phil continues to co-direct and coach Warriors Basketball with his son Mark.

Program Director/Head Coach, Warriors Basketball Club
Coach, NorCal Elite
Former Director, Flight Elite (est. 1997 and merged into NorCal Elite est. 2021)

Mark is a current NorCal Elite coach and has been a Flight Elite Basketball coach since 2006. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a major in sports management. He was a freshman boys basketball coach at Campolindo High from 2007-2008 and Assistant Varsity Coach from 2008 to 2009. Mark has been one of Flight Elite’s top coaches and several of his teams have won national-level tournaments in the past few years. He is currently the coach of the 12u highly ranked NorCal Elite team. Mark is also the co-director of the Warriors Basketball Program. Coach Doherty also coaches in the West Coast Elite NorCal High School Program. Mark is a teacher in San Ramon and resides in Martinez.

Program Co-Director/Head Coach, Warriors Basketball Club
Former Coach, Flight Elite and NorCal Elite

Coach Kenji is currently the Co-Director and Head Coach of the Warriors Basketball Club. Coach Kenji brings an energy & zest to coaching that is contagious and has had a lifetime love affair with the game of basketball. Being a great teammate is something that Kenji strived for as a player and now works diligently to teach as a coach. He is in his 11th year as a coach with the Warriors program. Kenji also previously coached in the Flight Elite program for 10 years and has helped build some of the highest ranked youth programs in the area. He resides in Concord with his fiancé, 12 year old daughter, & brand new baby boy.

Lead Coach, Warriors Basketball
Former Coach, Flight Elite and NorCal Elite
Golden State Warriors Youth Basketball Coach

Coach Troy brings positive vibes and inspiration to Warriors Basketball Club where he’s been a coach for 2 years. Coach Troy’s story is inspirational and he brings his life experience to all the athletes he coaches in Warriors Basketball Club. He battled osteosarcoma in 2004 and was diagnosed to terminal cancer.  He lost his left arm and was given only 6 months to live in 2007.

In December 2018 Coach Troy was diagnosed cancer free and he didn’t receive any treatment. He changed his lifestyle to eating natural whole foods, exercise, and mental thinking and because of that he is grateful to be in complete remission.

In 2020 Troy won the JR NBA Coach of the year for the Golden State Warriors. GSW shared his story called “The fighting spirit “ which in 2021 won a Northern California Emmy Award.

Coach, Warriors Basketball Club

Coach Chris is in his 2nd year coaching for the Warriors and is known to have a fun, positive relationship with our players at all levels. He is a current student and former basketball player at De la Salle. Chris was also a long time Warriors and Flight Elite player having played for the programs from 2013 to 2019. Chris also was a player for one of the top high school AAU teams, West Coast Elite. Coach Chris is excited to share what he’s learned through his time as a player and pass down the knowledge he’s gained from all of his former coaches.