HAIKOU - Every Saturday morning, Gianmarco Sapio turns up on time on the court of the NBA Basketball School in Haikou, capital of south China's Hainan Province, ready to teach the kids how to play basketball.

Sapio, 33, from "the city of the sun" Naples, south Italy, has been a basketball coach in China for eight years, and now is the basketball technical director of Haikou NBA Basketball School.

"In sports, the most important thing is they love what they do, especially when they are very young," said the coach who believes interest is the best teacher. The first thing he teaches the kids other than skills is to love the game, respect teammates, and follow the rules.

Sapio fell in love with basketball at the age of six. "When I played, I always had a better understanding of the game, better than my peers," he said.

It was the passion for basketball that kept Sapio playing, and when he taught his first class at 18, it was then he knew he "just could not live without it."

"I love being on the court with the kids, having fun with them, and sharing my knowledge with them. I learned that was kind of in my nature," said the Italian coach.