Dan DeRose – Penn Hills High School

Dan DeRose has been coaching for more than 30 years and spent most of his time on the college level, where he saw a lot of young men struggle in their relationships with women. Three years ago, he partnered with Pittsburgh Action Against Rape to implement Coaching Boys Into Men with the Penn Hills Basketball team. His hope is, with the right counseling and instruction, he can help his athletes become better educated and not make the same mistakes.

Coach DeRose recognizes that coaches have special relationships with players. “We carry the power and responsibility to instill the qualities and characteristics in our players that will help them become better individuals in society and to be successful on and off the court,” he says.

“Being involved in CBIM helped bring us closer together as a team and more of a family by being able to open up with each other about more important things in life than basketball. I firmly believe that the CBIM program was one of the main reasons why we came together as a team, which contributed to us winning a WPIAL 6A championship that season.”