From a Lion to a Mustang: Carson named head coach at Westfall
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Former Fairfield boys varsity basketball head coach Matt Carson has a new home to coach and teach as he was officially named the new head boys basketball coach at Westfall High School Monday evening during a school board meeting.
Carson, who spent the past five seasons at the helm of the Fairfield Lions, began coaching the Lions at the start of the 2007-08 season, a team which the season before his arrival had a record of 1-20 overall.
During his time coaching his alma mater, which he resigned from this past spring, Carson compiled an overall record of 55-55, with three visits to the district tournament, along with a trip to the district finals during the 2010-11 season.
"I wish I could thank everyone individually who helped me during my time at Fairfield," Carson said. "I'm very thankful and blessed God gave me the chance to teach and coach at the Fairfield School District. I enjoyed coaching there for five years, and I also enjoyed teaching there the past two years.
"I have great pride and love for Fairfield … the fact I'm a Fairfield Lion won't change. I wish them all the luck and success as they are destined to do great things. But now I'm getting used to being a Westfall Mustang, and that's what I am right now."
Carson, who was named Fairfield varsity coach when he was 20 years old while also being a student at Wilmington College during a majority of his coaching career, never had less than 10 wins a season, including 12 wins in 2008-09, three 11-win seasons, and during his first year, his team had a nine-win improvement from the previous year with 10 wins.
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"I've been overwhelmed anywhere I go with the support I had," Carson said. "The only thing I ask is that Fairfield basketball isn't about one person, one coach, one player … for the past five years, it was about a mentality … about playing tough, defensive-minded basketball.
"Youth sports is for the kids, not about wins and losses. In my time at Fairfield, I've learned, and my teams have learned, how to handle adversity, and I wanted my players to learn how to make themselves a better citizen."
Now Carson is set to take over a new team as he will be leaving to coach the Mustangs, who are a part of the Scioto Valley Conference. Carson will bring his new Mustang team to Fairfield High School on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 as they are scheduled to face Fairfield in a regular season game at Grandle Gymnasium.
Westfall, a Division III school, went 9-13 last season (6-8 in the SVC) under former coach Roger Mink.
"This has been done for a few weeks now but didn't become official until this week," Carson said of becoming the new Westfall coach. "I've been in the gym with my new players, and it's been great to be back teaching the game of basketball. I'm overjoyed."
The new Westfall coach talked about what interested him in coaching and teaching at the school.
"What interested me was they had a social studies job open, and that gave me the opportunity to not only coach at Westfall, but teach in the same school district," he said. "That encouraged me about the job.
"I'm looking forward to another chapter in my coaching career. I'm familiar with the SVC. My teams at Fairfield scrimmaged some of the teams in the league, and it will be another competitive league to coach in as I already know Coach (Kyle) Uhrig of Southeastern and Coach (Dave) Shoemaker of Paint Valley."
Though Carson is ready for his next chapter, he turned the pages back one last time to speak about the coaching fraternity of the Southern Hills League.
"I'm sad to see the camaraderie with the SHL coaches go," he said. "The two leagues are different styles of basketball, as the SHL is more of an up-tempo style and the SVC is more of a quarter-court, physical forward. Both are competitive in their own right."
Carson has matured over the years, as would anyone who started coaching at 20 years old, and he said what he enjoyed the most was learning all the different aspects of working with his players.
"Everything isn't black-and-white, everything is gray," he said. "I've learned how to handle different situations … I've mellowed as the game has slowed down. I've learned to gain advice from other coaches and to make changes within the system to match the personnel."
Since he has all new players for the upcoming 2012-13 season, beginning in the winter months, he said the biggest challenge in the summer has been getting his Westfall players used to his system.
"The biggest difference is just teaching the system right now," Carson said. "I'm impressed with our summer and excited about coaching this team, as they are excited to have me. They are respectful kids, and I can't say enough about the Westfall school system. They are supportive of me, and they are a hard-working, blue collar school that values education, and they value integrity."
Carson ended by saying he hoped his players have learned not only about basketball, but used the lessons on the court in their life after the game as well.
"Anyone who has played for me, I hope they learned more than just basketball," he said. "It is still great to have former players call me 'Coach.' I'm proud of the people they have become, and it was a great five years at Fairfield.
"I'm going to miss it, but I'm excited to grow and teach at Westfall. I want to say thanks to the Leesburg community, my parents, family and friends, and to Steve Hackett, Bill Garrett and to my coaching staff the past five years for all their help and support. It was fun, but it's time to start something new."
Carson, who spent the past five seasons at the helm of the Fairfield Lions, began coaching the Lions at the start of the 2007-08 season, a team which the season before his arrival had a record of 1-20 overall.
During his time coaching his alma mater, which he resigned from this past spring, Carson compiled an overall record of 55-55, with three visits to the district tournament, along with a trip to the district finals during the 2010-11 season.
"I wish I could thank everyone individually who helped me during my time at Fairfield," Carson said. "I'm very thankful and blessed God gave me the chance to teach and coach at the Fairfield School District. I enjoyed coaching there for five years, and I also enjoyed teaching there the past two years.
"I have great pride and love for Fairfield … the fact I'm a Fairfield Lion won't change. I wish them all the luck and success as they are destined to do great things. But now I'm getting used to being a Westfall Mustang, and that's what I am right now."
Carson, who was named Fairfield varsity coach when he was 20 years old while also being a student at Wilmington College during a majority of his coaching career, never had less than 10 wins a season, including 12 wins in 2008-09, three 11-win seasons, and during his first year, his team had a nine-win improvement from the previous year with 10 wins.
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"I've been overwhelmed anywhere I go with the support I had," Carson said. "The only thing I ask is that Fairfield basketball isn't about one person, one coach, one player … for the past five years, it was about a mentality … about playing tough, defensive-minded basketball.
"Youth sports is for the kids, not about wins and losses. In my time at Fairfield, I've learned, and my teams have learned, how to handle adversity, and I wanted my players to learn how to make themselves a better citizen."
Now Carson is set to take over a new team as he will be leaving to coach the Mustangs, who are a part of the Scioto Valley Conference. Carson will bring his new Mustang team to Fairfield High School on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 as they are scheduled to face Fairfield in a regular season game at Grandle Gymnasium.
Westfall, a Division III school, went 9-13 last season (6-8 in the SVC) under former coach Roger Mink.
"This has been done for a few weeks now but didn't become official until this week," Carson said of becoming the new Westfall coach. "I've been in the gym with my new players, and it's been great to be back teaching the game of basketball. I'm overjoyed."
The new Westfall coach talked about what interested him in coaching and teaching at the school.
"What interested me was they had a social studies job open, and that gave me the opportunity to not only coach at Westfall, but teach in the same school district," he said. "That encouraged me about the job.
"I'm looking forward to another chapter in my coaching career. I'm familiar with the SVC. My teams at Fairfield scrimmaged some of the teams in the league, and it will be another competitive league to coach in as I already know Coach (Kyle) Uhrig of Southeastern and Coach (Dave) Shoemaker of Paint Valley."
Though Carson is ready for his next chapter, he turned the pages back one last time to speak about the coaching fraternity of the Southern Hills League.
"I'm sad to see the camaraderie with the SHL coaches go," he said. "The two leagues are different styles of basketball, as the SHL is more of an up-tempo style and the SVC is more of a quarter-court, physical forward. Both are competitive in their own right."
Carson has matured over the years, as would anyone who started coaching at 20 years old, and he said what he enjoyed the most was learning all the different aspects of working with his players.
"Everything isn't black-and-white, everything is gray," he said. "I've learned how to handle different situations … I've mellowed as the game has slowed down. I've learned to gain advice from other coaches and to make changes within the system to match the personnel."
Since he has all new players for the upcoming 2012-13 season, beginning in the winter months, he said the biggest challenge in the summer has been getting his Westfall players used to his system.
"The biggest difference is just teaching the system right now," Carson said. "I'm impressed with our summer and excited about coaching this team, as they are excited to have me. They are respectful kids, and I can't say enough about the Westfall school system. They are supportive of me, and they are a hard-working, blue collar school that values education, and they value integrity."
Carson ended by saying he hoped his players have learned not only about basketball, but used the lessons on the court in their life after the game as well.
"Anyone who has played for me, I hope they learned more than just basketball," he said. "It is still great to have former players call me 'Coach.' I'm proud of the people they have become, and it was a great five years at Fairfield.
"I'm going to miss it, but I'm excited to grow and teach at Westfall. I want to say thanks to the Leesburg community, my parents, family and friends, and to Steve Hackett, Bill Garrett and to my coaching staff the past five years for all their help and support. It was fun, but it's time to start something new."