When Christopher Bess was in preschool, his school held a career day. He dressed as a coach with a whistle, T-shirt and cap to emulate his father, Reginald Bess, the varsity coach of the Tarboro High School boys basketball team in North Carolina.
Now he is going viral for being known as the “Youth Coach of the Year 2024” and training alongside his father. Before the games, Christopher encourages the team with a pregame speech.
A video of Christopher's pregame speech posted on February 23 has garnered more than 1.3 million views on Instagram and grown his account to more than 70,000 followers in less than a week. His social media page includes other training tactics, such as leading drills, suicides, and breaking up team meetings.
“When I train hard, you all play hard,” Christopher told the Tarboro Vikings team in a pregame speech.
Reginald has enjoyed the impact Christopher has made.
“I feel like, as an African-American kid, he's having a big impact,” Reginald told ESPN. “It's positive to see him because he is a good boy. He always laughs, he is always smiling and if he sees someone who doesn't have a smile on their face, he asks them: 'What's wrong?' or approaches him.if he knows them like 'Put a smile on your face!' And no matter what they're going through, even if they're going through hell, they'll put a smile on his face.”
Although Christopher is only four years old, he is serious about basketball and training. He has a handful of game day superstitions that he constantly follows.
On days when the Tarboro High School basketball team has a game, Christopher wakes up and eats a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, his favorite cereal, before going to “work.” After school, he returns home to change into his game-day clothes: a polo shirt with the Viking logo and “L'il Coach Bess” stitched underneath, a pair of khaki pants, his black Nike Air Max 270 sneakers, and a jersey that will not be abandoned until the third quarter.
His older brother, Reggie Bess, is a varsity player and says Christopher is a challenging coach.
“Sometimes I feel like Christopher bothers me more than my dad,” Reggie said. “I'll miss a basket or I'll fumble the ball. [and] he is yelling at me [while] my dad says, 'Go back to defense,' and Christopher is still there yelling about the turnover that happened two plays ago. It's fun to see him on the sidelines enjoying what he likes.”
Christopher's presence leaves a positive impact on the team. Although his voice may be quieter than the players', they still listen and do what the young coach asks of them.
“I think Christopher is very helpful sometimes,” Reggie said. “Sometimes on defense we can be in a zone and Christopher says 'Someone come down from behind' and the back wing really needs to go down, so Christopher tells them and the wing actually listens to him and goes down. Little things that make it even more valuable”.
When the Vikings play other teams, the coaches treat Christopher as if he were an adult coach. The coaches address him with respect, followed by responses to Christopher's pregame trash talk.
“Christopher will be Christopher with a smile on his face and tell them 'You're not going to win tonight, this is our night!'” Reginald told ESPN. “He loves to compete and talks trash in a positive way and the [opposing] The coaches love that about him.”
When Christopher is not training alongside his father, he plays (and coaches) in the Upward Sports basketball league. However, his passion lies in coaching his team to win and throwing in the towel for every mistake made.
“[Playing’s] I'm a little too far away,” Christopher said with a smile. “You can accept me as a coach, but as a player? No, that's too far.”
