Tony Spino - Pillar of Achievement

Tony Spino has had quite a life. In over 30 years of working as a trainer at UCLA, he has worked on the staff of 19 NCAA championship teams in men’s basketball, water polo and tennis and continues to be a trainer for the Bruins to this day. He has also been a trainer for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and part of the boxing staff that won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
But on a recent winter afternoon as he walked the grounds at Glendale College, his thoughts were not on UCLA but about the kind family that provided milk and cereal every morning for him to eat and countless others who looked after him when he was thousands of miles away from home.

“I would not be where I am today if it were not for Glendale College,” Spino said. “The training room looks almost the same and walking by the cafeteria, I am so grateful to the workers who helped me get a job and made sure that I had at least two good meals a day when I had nothing else.’’

Spino came to Glendale College in 1969 from his hometown in Morristown, New Jersey and the University of Kentucky, where he just completed his freshman year. He likes to say with a smile on his face that he has worked with two of the most famous basketball coaches ever, Adolph Rupp from Kentucky and John Wooden at UCLA.

He came to Glendale College with nothing more than the clothes on his back and his guile to survive. But on his recent visit to the campus, he gazed upon the hall of fame mural and plaques of the inductees that have been enshrined before him. Spino has come full circle to the place where it all began.

Spino was a student-trainer for the athletic teams at Glendale from 1969 to 1971and was the head trainer for the 1971-72 season. He said without a hint of insincerity that working with fellow inductees Jim Sartoris and Abe Androff in football and basketball was as important as any staff he has ever been part of.

“The reason Glendale College has always been so successful in athletics is because the coaches are passionate about what they do and the administration supports their efforts,’’ Spino said. “Even at UCLA with their larger staffs and bigger budgets, it all boils down to the coaches getting their point across to players and nobody does it better than GlendaleCollege.’’
While Spino’s experiences of meeting five United States Presidents and working on behalf of the country of Belize and its 1998 national team rank high on his list of career highlights, his current assignment of helping to care for former UCLA head basketball coach John Wooden ranks as one of the most gratifying.

Spino said he has helped look after the 98-year-old Wooden for the past 25 years on his own but it has only been in the last few years that it has been his main job for UCLA. And while he is the one that is supposed to be providing care and arranging for the legendary coach to make it to all of his medical appointments and events on his schedule, Spino said he has received more from the relationship than he has given.

“In terms of who takes care of who, I would say that I just stay out of his way until I feels he needs me in terms of making sure he is stable when standing or needs the wheelchair or walker to get around,’’ Spino said. “At his age or for anyone who has reached advanced years, that is pretty much the scenario. But he is a man of unlimited wisdom who is so respectful of others that he hates to say no to anybody when they need help. I know that’s the way I try to live my life.’’