David Maciejewski was immersed in sports as a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. His father, Lee Maciejewski, now 74, coaches softball, football and basketball and is in the Illinois High School Hall of Fame for softball and basketball.
“When I was about 5, he started taking me to practices,” said Maciejewski. “I grew up on the sidelines watching him. Whatever sport he was in for that season, I would tag along with him.”
Maciejewski always wanted to be an educator, being a part of a family of teachers. His mother, Nora, and two older sisters are teachers as well. He played basketball and football at Glenbard West High School, where his dad was the head basketball coach. After high school, he attended a local junior college where he started coaching at 18 as an assistant for the freshman lower-level team. Since graduating from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in education, he’s been coaching for more than 15 years. He’s coached football, track and golf, but basketball has always been his favorite sport.
The coach got his first opportunity as a full-time teacher in Rochester, New York, where he coached football, golf and basketball. He helped his team win a couple state championships in football. He went on to become a head coach at several schools in Illinois for five years, until he landed a job at Bloomingdale as a PE coach and head coach of the basketball program.
“I’m excited to be here and I’m happy that the administration gave me the opportunity to coach at Bloomingdale,” said Maciejewski.
Maciejewski was interested in moving to Florida and having a fresh start, and he was thrilled at the opportunity to coach Bloomingdale when he accepted the job in late May 2022. His wife, Shaina, and two little girls, Aubrey and Brynlee, moved with him to Plant City five months ago. Shaina was able to move to remote work with her job because of COVID-19.
Maciejewski was an elementary school teacher while being a head high school coach before. Now he is excited to be teaching at the same school where he coaches because he has the opportunity to interact with his players more often and build on those relationships. His assistant coach, Eric McGee, and Bloomingdale girls basketball head coach Joel Bower have been a big help to him, teaching him about Hillsborough County basketball and introducing him to contacts in the area.
He got off to a late start, getting hired during the summer; as a result, his team was unable to play in the summer league and only had about eight total practices, which had them playing catch up, installing a new system with players that don’t have much varsity playing experience. The team was able to compete in a few fall ball games.
Maciejewski said that his team will hang its hat on defense and try to control the tempo of the game while playing a patient half-court motion offense. The Bulls had success last season, winning its first district since 2016; however, the team returned one varsity player with major minutes from that team. Maciejewski will have to rebuild the program from the ground up. His goal is to not only compete for championships and win games but to teach his players life lessons as well.
“We’re just trying to build on every win and get better each day in practice,” he said. “I want to make sure that the kids we are coaching are productive members of society. We are teaching them to face adversity and how to handle adversity through the game of basketball. Hopefully, coaching them up a little bit on being good people and growing up to be good fathers and good husbands and overall good, quality people.”
