As the fall sports season begins, several new coaches, including both boy’s basketball and girl’s basketball, are coaching to not only better their programs, but also make a lasting impact on sports.
Girl’s flag football JV head coach Rylee Dunham has taught for two years and made the decision to coach girls flag football to get more involved in the community. Dunham stated, “This is my second year here, and I just wanted to get involved…I wanted to find a way where I could make a bigger impact on students.” Dunham wants to not only have a great season with Girl’s flag football, but also wants to make her players more well prepared and well rounded, both in the classroom and athletically. She explained, “I hope to teach them how to work on a team, how to accept blame and not just give blame… and that nothing happens by accident.” Dunham wants her players to know that hard work comes through practice and striving to work better as a team.
Varsity boy’s basketball coach Justin Collard began coaching this year due to the unique talent and players in the boy’s basketball team. Collard elaborated, “We have a tall team, lots of talent.” Collard is focused on making his players both tougher and faster throughout the season so that they can win future games. Looking ahead, Collard also is devoted to giving them the skills and discipline to become good men in the future. Ultimately Collard’s long term goals are to not only build the team, make it better and leave it in a better place than when he started coaching, but also to create good men in the future.
Varsity girl’s basketball coach Darren Fenn began coaching due to the exceptional support from administration and staff, the culture as well as building on the traditions from prior years. Fenn stated, “Coach Curtis did a phenomenal job developing talent and putting the team in a position to be incredibly successful. I choose Perry in the hopes to continue that tradition and build on the work of the prior years.” One thing Fenn is looking forward to is the growth the girl’s basketball team is capable of over the course of the season. “I’m looking forward to getting in the gym everyday with the athletes. The games are for parents and players but the practices are for coaches,” Fenn added.
Overall the new coaches are prepared to better their teams for their next season, with their primary goals being to teach their players discipline and better their program long term.
