AAU COACHES

Adam has been the Director of Down Town Sports Club since its opening in 2010. During that time he has overseen a variety of activities including the Gym Ratz AAU Club, DTSC Summer Camps, Basketball Boot Camp Clinics, and the "P3" High School Clinics. Adam has coached both the Boys & Girls Gym Ratz teams from grades 3-12 to numerous League and Tournament titles including the 2016 Zero Gravity National Championship. Outside of the Gym Ratz, Adam has ran clinics for the Boys & Girls in grades K-8 for Old Tappan, Upper Saddle River and Mahwah. He has also been a travel coach for Upper Saddle River and Allendale, in which he has won the Mike Blake Invitational Tournament 4 years running, and guided his teams to 3 BTBL League Championships. He is a graduate of Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Economics and a 4 year letter winner in Baseball.

Coach Gallo has coached for the New Jersey Gym Ratz since 2014. He coaches boys’ teams ranging from 3rd– 8th grade. During the winter season, he spends his time coaching the boys’ varsity basketball team at Saddle River Day School and was the recipient of Coach of the Year award in 2016-2017. Coach Gallo is dedicated, passionate, and eager to see his players develop into effective high school and college basketball players, and is involved in a variety of other programs at Down Town Sports. Coach Gallo attended the University of Rutgers where he was a graduate assistant coach for the boys' basketball team. “If you’re interested in developing your skills and being apart of a competitive AAU basketball team, NJ Gym Ratz is the place for you!”

My name is Sydney Watkins and I will be graduating in May from Manhattan College as a chemical engineering major and Division 1 player. Known as one of the top three shooters in Bergen County and 3rd in the MAAC collegiate conference for 3 point shooting. I was also a MAAC player of the week my Freshman year. a 1,000 point scorer and held the highest three-point field goal percentage of the MAAC conference. I am a competitor through and through, during my high school career, I won the 2017 New Jersey Sectional Championship at Queen of Peace HS and went on to transfer to Saddle River Day to win the Bergen County finals and went to the Tournament of Champions for the first time in SRDS history in 2018.

Being a student-athlete has taught me the importance of teamwork, perseverance, and time management and I am looking to pass on my knowledge and love for the game to my players. My goal is to demonstrate what it takes to be a successful student-athlete on and off the court. I will hold my players to a high standard. I strive to create a competitive yet fun-filled environment this season! I would like the parents to trust the process, and let’s win!