Darren Heckman has more than a decade of coaching experience, mostly with youth and summer basketball. This November, he'll get his first crack at coaching during the high school season.
Heckman was announced Thursday as the new Blair Oaks girls basketball head coach. He will take over for Kevin Kohler, who stepped down from the position last month.
"I'm really excited to have the opportunity to coach at Blair Oaks," said Heckman, a 1992 graduate of Blair Oaks. "I just decided I wanted to take a shot at it."
Heckman, who is the owner and president of High 5 Communications, has been coaching basketball since 2005. He has coached girls youth basketball, ages 5-13, as well as in the PAL and other club teams. For the past two years, Heckman has been an assistant coach for the Mid-Mo Fusion AAU team.
He said his most recent experience has helped prepare himself for this new role.
"I think that's helped me a lot," Heckman said. "I don't think two years ago I would have been ready for this."
Heckman will take over a Blair Oaks team that loses three seniors after finishing with a 13-13 record. The Lady Falcons will return eight players who had significant varsity minutes last season.
And he has watched several Lady Falcon games the past few years. Heckman's older daughter, Claire, will be a junior on the team next season.
"I have been around most of the high school girls since they've started playing," Heckman said. "I think we have a lot of talent, a lot of depth. I think there's a lot to work with there."
Heckman and his wife, Greta, have two other daughters: Natalie, who will be a freshman on the basketball team, and Abbey, who will be in sixth grade.
"We have some girls who have a lot of experience at the varsity level," Heckman said.
Heckman was introduced to the team Thursday morning.
"My philosophy is you just want to try and get your girls to control what you can control," Heckman said. "I think you can control your attitude and your effort, regardless of what age you are.
"We're going to try and make sure we come to the gym with the right attitude and give your best effort. I think everything else sort of takes care of itself."