Even with music blaring over the speakers during our lunchtime conversation at BOXPARK in Wembley, it wasn’t hard to hear the pride in the voice of London Lions basketball assistant coach Clive Castillo when describing what it means to be seen as the first Professional Filipino basketball coach in Europe.
“It means a lot to me,” he said.
“For me to be recognised as a Filipino in the highest level is a true honour and it’s a privilege and I’m hoping that it can help inspire others to know that we can as well be top coaches in this industry too in this region of the world.”
It is fair to say that Castillo, who was born and raised in the UK, has put in the time and work to have reached this point. He has been head coach at the University of Westminster since 2015 and is involved in coaching with projects such as Fil-Euro Nation Select and Brent Bulls basketball, a club and academy he helped establish during the pandemic.
With all this, he calls his coaching journey an “underdog” story and “unconventional,” especially considering he never played professionally. It is a journey which has given him opportunities to meet different people and travel to different countries, enabling him to learn and grow as a person and leader along the way.
“It’s’ taken a lot of years. I’ve been coaching for over a decade,” he said.
“I’ve had head coach experience in the collegiate level here in the UK, had the opportunity to coach in Europe…I feel like to describe it has been a learning process and definitely a lot of growth within that.”
And now, his journey of experiences, learning and growth has led him to the position he is in today – an assistant coach in Super League Basketball (SLB) for the London Lions, who he joined in September 2024.
This role is potentially the best basketball opportunity yet of Castillo’s coaching career and he is bullish about the chance to learn and collaborate with Head Coach Petar Bozic, who previously coached in the San Antonio Spurs system.
“He had a great amount of experience,” Castillo said about Bozic.
“Four years as an assistant coach behind Gregg Popovich (Spurs head coach) …he was a head coach in the G League. He was an assistant coach in the G League when they won the G League as well as Austin Spurs.
“He’s got X amount of experiences which I feel is so valuable and every practice that we have, there’s always something to learn from…little details that he brings from what I feel is a winning culture. The Spurs culture…is well known for that winning tradition, that culture that they’ve built over the years.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Lions have had a good start as well with Castillo as an assistant coach. Their 9-3 record currently have them sitting first in the SLB standings after their most recent league victory, an 84-80 road win against the Surrey 89ers.
What is even more impressive is the Lions have won despite almost going bankrupt at the beginning of the season. Thankfully for the club, they were saved just in time by new owners Tesonet, a tech hub that is also a shareholder of Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas.
Castillo also feels positive about the Lions’ prospects for the rest of the season as he hopes to contribute and help the team repeat last year’s efforts of winning the championship and the playoffs.
In saying that, he believes that being a coach isn’t just about the performances or results on the court. Coaching is about more than that for him.
“The biggest success of coaches I feel is not…by championships and wins and loss records. I always feel it’s your alumni, it’s your graduates,” he said.
“So once they graduate from your program, do they come back and see you? Do they message you on WhatsApp or Instagram? Do they come visit what you’re doing? And I feel like that’s a true measurement…having an emotional relationship…having an emotional understanding with these guys, being through that journey together, showing empathy when they needed it.
“I felt like this allowed me to be a better coach but a better friend and a mentor for them.”
As for his future aspirations, Castillo is open to the challenge of coaching in other Pro Leagues or college programs in America or the Philippines. He is willing to be patient however before making such a move.
“To me it’s all about timing but also about opportunities so if that comes knocking, then I’ll love to have those conversations with those organisations.”
For now, he has his hands full juggling all his commitments alongside coaching from, amongst others, being a lecturer, conducting his Doctorate research, delivering basketball sessions in schools and taking care of his kids.
“Sometimes I’ll leave the house at 6am or 5am and then I don’t get back until 11pm,” he said of his hectic schedule.
It would be easy to wonder how someone can consistently display such an incredible work ethic. For Castillo however, it is simply a product of his belief that basketball is a game you cannot shortchange.
“I owe pretty much everything, a lot, to the game of basketball…it’s always been more than a game to me,” he said.
“I always tell my players you can’t cheat the game…if you put half-efforts into what you do, I feel like basketball won’t give everything back.
“If you just dedicate yourself to it and love it for what it is, you will see amazing things…so that’s the impact the sport has had on me.”
It is probably safe to say that if British basketball continues to see people involved in the game who are as dedicated and hardworking as Castillo is, then the future of the sport is in good hands.
Whatever he does do and achieve in the future as a coach, you can bet it will be something he and all Filipinos can be proud of.
