Sideline Stories: Louis Copolov, Maine Red Claws

From the development of my views and value system to the establishment of lifelong friendships, sport has had a profoundly positive impact on my life, personally and now professionally.

Cue humble brag – I have always considered myself to be “sporty” and take great pride in my seemingly natural ability to pick up any sport with relative ease. From an early age, my parents actively encouraged me to play as many sports as possible. Aside from life itself, their emphasis on sporting range is perhaps the greatest gift they have given me – Thank you, Mum and Dad!

Of the many sports that I have participated and competed in, I found the most success in rowing, as a coxswain. I was recruited from Melbourne Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia to attend Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts on a rowing scholarship.

At Northeastern, I helped my team achieve several top 10 national finishes and proudly represented Australia at two World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The highlight of my rowing career was winning a bronze medal in the heavyweight men’s coxed four at the 2016 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Since moving to the United States in January 2014, I have unsurprisingly continued to pick up new sports – snowboarding and, most recently, golf are now par for the course. Along with my roommate Gabe and his family, I have enjoyed many a golden hour throughout quarantine playing nine holes at Greater Portland’s public golf courses.

Through my current job, I now feel as if my sporting career (if I can even call it such) has gone full circle, having gone from being somewhat of an elite athlete myself to assisting professional athletes realize their sporting dreams. I am the Manager of Basketball Operations for the Maine Red Claws, the Boston Celtics’ NBA G League affiliate team. I consider it a great honor and privilege to be a part of such a storied international sporting organization. I love going in each day and working toward something larger than myself, and through my sporting experiences, I have come to realize that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine sport would take me from Melbourne to Boston to Portland, but hey, if that is not the power of sport, then I don’t know what is.