JAMES FORNI: Casa Grande family loses one of its own

Casa Grande High School varsity basketball coach James Forni took the game into triple overtime but finally lost his eight-year struggle with melanoma.|

Casa Grande High School varsity basketball coach James Forni took the game into triple overtime but finally lost his eight-year struggle with melanoma.

Forni died Sunday, June 27. He was 35 years old.

His friends and colleagues who knew him best said he never really lost; that he actually won his battle by the way he lived and enjoyed his life and had such a positive impact on so many people.

“He lived his life to the fullest,” said Casa Grande athletic director and close friend Rick O’Brien. “He was one of the happiest, kindest people I’ve ever known.”

O’Brien said Forni continued to strive to live life his way despite the pain of the increasingly escalating disease.

“With his wife, Mary, by his side, he fought a courageous war,” O’Brien said. “His passing is definitely a loss to everyone who knew and loved him.”

Forni was a home-grown product, growing up in Petaluma and playing football, basketball and volleyball for the Gauchos. He played tight end in football at the College of Marin, was a walk-on at the University of Oregon and finished his athletic career as a wide receiver at the University of Redlands.

He played on O’Brien’s first varsity football team at Casa Grande. “He was a wide receiver and he could catch anything thrown to him. He had great hands, and he was an outstanding basketball player,” the coach recalled.

Forni started his coaching career as junior varsity basketball coach and assistant football coach for O’Brien in 2003. He also taught physical education.

In his first season as head basketball coach in 2004, the Gauchos had a 7-18 record and went 3-9 in the Sonoma County League. Over the next decade, his teams never again had a losing season.

His good friend and former assistant coach Scott McKenna says Forni’s success is the result of his philosophy, not any emphasis on winning.

“When we talked about the varsity job, James said he wanted to put family first, academics second and basketball third,” McKenna explained. “Putting basketball third is what made his teams successful. His philosophy worked.

“Family was huge with him,” said McKenna. “His own family is amazing, and it showed in the way he lived his life.”

That family begins with his supportive immediate family of wife, Mary; parents, Jim and Jan Forni; brother Chris, who coached with him on the varsity basketball team; and sister Jill, who coaches volleyball at Casa Grande.

But it doesn’t end there. It stretches to include past and present players, past and present coaches and many others who have benefitted from being involved with Forni and the Casa Grande basketball program.

Typical of the Casa extended basketball family was the addition of two new coaches this season, Austin Mattos and E.J. Eitel, both former Casa players.

Rick Duarte, who was recruited to the family by Forni to announce Casa games, found himself, like so many others, drawn into doing more and more, including helping with practices when Forni’s illness began to limit his participation.

“My job was to time the drills. Every practice was mapped out to the minute. It was all about the work ethic and efficiency,” Duarte said.

He recalled that not only was Forni organized, but had a way of keeping all the players involved.

“He was always very aware of the guys at the end of bench.” Duarte said. “He understood they worked as hard as the starters, and gave them a chance to play at every opportunity.”

Ron Petroni, who retired at the end of the school year after more than three decades coaching and teaching at Casa Grande, watched Forni grow from a freshman on his football team into one of the school leaders.

Petroni said Forni’s commitment to students extended far beyond the gym and his teams.

“I don’t know of anyone who made more of a contribution to young people,” said Petroni. “It is hard to describe how he was able to command the students’ love and respect. He was one of those kind of people who could get through to the students.”

One of those outside the immediate family, allowed to visit Forni during his last few days, was LJ Callan.

“I asked him to teach Brett to shoot free throws, and he promised that he would,” Callan said of his last conversation with the coach.

Callan’s son, Brett, was a promising young Casa Grande basketball player who died in a car crash prior to Forni’s first season. Forni, working with Callan and his wife, Julie, organized the Brett Callan Memorial Tournament that has grown into one of the most prestigious basketball tournaments in the North Bay.

Forni’s passing came just days before the July 3 date of Brett’s death 11 years ago. The Callans have used the tournament as a platform to warn young people of the dangers and consequences of reckless driving.

“James was not just coaching, he was trying to raise young men,” Callan said. “What he meant to Casa Grande was immeasurable.

“Everyone, not just the players, but the kids who just went to the games, respected the heck out of him.”

While basketball was important to Forni, it wasn’t all consuming. O’Brien said Forni just loved being around people - going camping at Lake Pillsbury with Mary and his family, attending Warrior games and doing things totally unrelated to basketball, like biking, with his players.

Duarte noted the coach’s love for all things Star Wars and his passion for the Godfather movies, an emotion that led him to assigning new coaches Eitel and Mattos to see Parts I and II and report back for a quiz.

Heather Campbell, who teaches sports medicine at Casa Grande and worked as trainer for Forni’s basketball teams, summed up the feelings of those who knew Forni: “There was no better friend, no better colleague, no better anything than James. He was the whole package. He was the one everyone would go to for anything. He was amazing.

“His way of relating to every kid was incredible.

“Our community is broken, but together we will heal if we remember how James lived his life with no regrets, with honesty, dignity and a fighting spirit.”

A celebration of life will be held July 11 at 10 a.m. in the Casa Grande High School gymnasium.

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