Changes abound bringing new vision to the Falcon High School athletic programs, as the 2011-2012 school year begins. Last year’s athletic director and some coaches have transitioned to other opportunities, bringing new faces to the program.Falcon School District 49 conducted interviews in July for the open slots.The district had a large athletic director pool, and traditionally Falcon has had a successful athletic track record, said Steve Oberg, assistant principal and interim athletic director. “Last year, our football team went to the state playoffs and cross country won state,” Oberg said. “We have had some turnover, and the head volleyball coach is back.”Along with a new athletic director, the Falcon Falcons will see new coaches in teams like cross-country, football and basketball. Coach Paul Robinson is heading-up the wrestling team.FootballIn July, football teams hit the ground running with field practices.”It’s not about what happens with change, but how you accept it, and these boys have accepted it,” said Trevor Hudson, who has taken the reigns as head football coach from Jason Ketchum. “We lost 24 seniors – that was a heavy load to lose. The underclassmen and senior class have stepped up with intentions to be great.”Ketchum took them to excel. He did a phenomenal job. There is no better job a coach can walk into. We want to end our season at INVESCO (Denver Broncos stadium) playing the championship.”The Falcons finished 9-1 during the 2010-2011 regular season – no small feat.”Some great seniors are going to duplicate the successes seen previously,” Hudson said. BasketballOn the basketball court, Coach Greg Cox will lead the freshman boys and assist the varsity coach.Tournaments were held in June, and teams are prepping throughout the summer for November competition. Teams competed at Metro State College’s Gold Crown Tournament, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the U.S. Air Force Academy.”Summer basketball is about developing continuity amongst players and giving them court experience,” Cox said. The freshman team is very solid. All three levels are a great group of boys; a lot are multi-sportsmen. We lost three seniors. Losing those three is a hard hit. We are going to be young, but we will compete.”The state has 48 basketball teams, with 14 teams comprising the Colorado Springs conference. Falcon basketball brought tight competition to the 2010-2011 season.”When we made it to the second-to-last round there were only eight teams left. It was a successful season,” Cox said. “We had a great year – all three levels did well. Varsity went to Sweet 16 last year. We are junior and sophomore loaded.”
