Martin Mugharbil

Lessons on the Game of Life

It’s easy to spot Martin Mugharbil. Yes, he is well over two meters tall. But the real trick is to head over to the Gymnasium or Green Field during a break from class and listen for the words “Coach Martin! Coach Martin!” There you will usually find his tall frame surrounded by a group of students who have stopped by to say hello, to seek some advice in life or sport, or to play a quick game of pick-up basketball or football.

Like ACS, Martin is a blend of American and Lebanese. His American mother met his Lebanese father while both were studying at Vanderbilt University. They married and moved to Beirut, where Martin was born in 1975. Because of the war, he spent much of his childhood in the United States, including his senior year of high school. “That was a difficult year for me. I missed Beirut, I missed my friends, and I missed playing basketball professionally.” Always a talented athlete, Martin began playing for various professional clubs in Lebanon at age 16. “When I finally returned to Beirut, I played basketball for my university, LAU, and for professional clubs such as Rosaire, Sadaka, and Riyadi. After Martin graduated from LAU in 1999, he continued playing basketball professionally and began coaching at both his former high school and for his university alma mater.

Coach Martin in the huddle with LAU basketball players.

“I always knew I wanted to be a coach. As a player, I was really affected by my coaches. I didn’t always agree with the way they treated us as players and the way they motivated us as a team. I wanted to see if I could do things differently.” Martin has run summer youth camps for almost 25 years. One summer, the ACS Middle School principal, Ms. Maysaa Boubess, observed Martin interacting with the campers. She was so impressed with Martin’s rapport with the kids that she recruited him to join the ACS Early Childhood program, working mainly with kindergarteners. “From then on, I was hooked,” says Martin. “ACS is where I discovered my real passion for coaching and mentoring kids.” After 15 years at ACS, Martin is now the Athletics and Activities Director. His responsibilities include not only athletics at all divisions, but activities such as Week Without Walls and After School Explorers programming.

Elementary students (easily) convince Coach Martin to put on a pair of rollerblades.

As his responsibilities have grown, so have his ideas about the true significance of sport and competition. You could call them “lessons on the game of life.” Martin explains, “Coaching is really teaching kids about the game of life. Of course I want our teams to win games, but it is not the end of the world if we don’t. What is more important is how we play the game.” To Martin, that means getting the most out of our players in terms of work ethic, commitment, and respectful behavior. “If we can teach our kids the true meaning of sportsmanship, we will have given them valuable life lessons that they can build upon long after they have finished playing sports competitively.”

Coach Martin on the field with the ACS girls’ football team.

Martin’s influence on ACS students extends well beyond sports. If life is the game and community is the team, Martin is the ultimate team player. He displays a seemingly endless energy to support and strengthen the ACS community, as well as a variety of local and regional causes. Two big endeavors stand out. In 2016 he entered his first Ironman competition, AlzIRON, to raise money for the care of Alzheimer's patients in Lebanon. This project had special meaning for Martin because of the impact his father’s Alzheimer's diagnosis had on his family as they struggled to care for him at home. His celebrated campaign drew widespread support and media attention and raised a whopping $45,000.

In 2019 he swam from Cyprus to Lebanon as part of a team of 6 swimmers raising awareness of the impact of single-use plastics on the sea. The traverse was the first-ever open-water, non-stop relay swim to take place from Cyprus to Lebanon. Together, the 6 swimmers set a record of 51 hours and 50 minutes for the crossing. An award-winning 10-minute short marking the event was produced by TAQA Lebanese Bakery, the sponsor of the event. Closer to home, Martin was the point-person at ACS who organized aid for ACS employees affected by Israel’s bombing campaign of Dahiyeh this past fall. He organized a morale-boosting community fun run at Deir El Qamar in December.

Rising ACS senior sums up the community’s love for Coach Martin well. “I am honoured to have such a dedicated Athletics Director. Coach Martin is there for everyone, both on and off the field. He’s always offering encouragement, even when we’re not at our best. He is invested in our athletics outside of school as well, always checking in on our performances and training. His support means a lot to all of us at ACS!”