COLORADO COACH- FALL 2018 FROM THE SPORT PRESIDENTS batter was thrown out trying to steal second base. Whew! A win-win situation. It could have back fired on me, but it’s more important to teach and coach the right thing for the individual player and for the team. I’ll leave this to all of you Big Labowski Fans. In the words of actor Sam Elliott, “sometimes you eat the bar (southern pronunciation of bear) and sometimes, well, sometimes he eats you!” GIRLS’ BASKETBALL President Erik Melgoza Wow, what a great year for girls’ basketball in the state of Colorado. I would like to wish a huge congratulations to all of the State Champion Teams, coaches and players. 5A – Grandview, 4A- Evergreen, 3A- St. Mary’s, 2A- Yuma and 1A- Kit Carson. That’s not to say that just because you didn’t win that final game your season was not a success. Success comes in many forms, it could be small goals that were achieved as an individual or a team. You as a coach or a player could have overcome personal adversity to make your season a success. The bottom line is that if you were committed as a coach and player you’ve won “The Most Committed Win”. We had an outstanding All-State games that were held in beautiful Alamosa, Colorado. Every sport had a great turnout and the whole event was run without a hitch. Huge thank you to Amy Estes of CHSCA for her countless hours of work and tremendous organizational skills, also Rob Lopez and Larry Mortenson of Adams State University for all their help and hospitality. I would also take this time to congratulate the Colorado High School Coaches Association girls’ basketball coach of the year- Josh Ulitzky- Grandview, he completed a back to back championship season. The Ceal Berry award winner was Dick Peecher formerly of McClave, a long time coach with multiple State Championships to his credit. Both of these coaches have led quality programs and have helped numerous young athletes reach high levels of success. Congratulations gentlemen! Now for a new season, I’m sure that many hours have been spent over the summer honing the athlete’s skills. Coaches we must do the same, I personally take this preseason time to improve mine. I like to look back at the previous season’s game film, I do this in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the team. I look over practice plans from the last two seasons to see if my methods are benefiting the athlete and the skill level of the program. I also like to watch coaching podcasts and clinic videos in order to stay on top of current trends of the game of basketball. Coaches we ask players to put in extra time, we have to as well “Pound Your Skill”. Many of you know me as the girls coach of Lamar High School. After a career change I am the new Athletic Director at Alamosa High School; but I couldn’t stay out of coaching and I will be helping a quality staff and group of skilled players this winter. So as they say coaching truly is in your blood. Have a great year. FOOTBALL President Harrison Chisum The football selection meeting is scheduled for December 9, 10:00am at the CHSAA offices in Aurora. Remember that HEAD COACHES must be members to nominate for All-State. SOCCER President Justin Stephens By the time many of you read this, you will have perhaps played half of your regular season games. Hopefully your season is going well, your athletes are staying fit, and your fans are supporting your teams! If I may, I’d like to share a tidbit I received from a former player who has gone on to become an assistant coach at a premier division one school. We were discussing training sessions and match related games and he said something which really stuck with me. He said, “know who you are, know what you want to get from your players, and come up with exercises, games, and sessions to get that out of them. Don’t plunder the internet for Pep’s latest video.” It was an interesting discussion. Soccer is constantly evolving and sometimes we scour whatever sources we can looking for new and fresh training ideas for our