Jennifer Blue takes over as Fairfield Lady Lions basketball head coach

For the second consecutive offseason, the Fairfield Lady Lions have hired a new head coach, as Jennifer Blue is taking over the program in Leesburg, looking to add to the success from a season ago.

Blue is taking over for Josh Stackhouse, who became the Fairfield interim head coach last season when Andy Wood resigned after the first game this past season. Stackhouse led Fairfield to the district finals and a 19-6 overall record. FHS lost to a Southern Hills Athletic Conference rival, the North Adams Lady Green Devils, 43-41 in the Division III District Final game.

Blue is a graduate of Westfall High School, and she’s also a graduate with a bachelor’s of geomatics engineering from The Ohio State University, as Blue is self-employed with her company Blue-J Surveying, LLC.

With the addition of Blue, Fairfield is getting a coach that not only has head coaching experience, but a coach who is familiar with the SHAC.

From 2011-18, Blue was the head coach at Westfall, then she followed Westfall with a stop at Eastern Brown as an assistant coach from 2019-21. The past two seasons, Blue was the head coach at Logan Elm.

Being familiar with the SHAC drew Blue’s attention to applying for the head coach position at Fairfield, plus the talent for the girls basketball program was a drawing point as well.

“I have followed the SHAC closely since being an assistant at Eastern Brown. The SHAC has a wonderful basketball past, and the Lady Lions are a big part of it,” Blue said. “After falling in the district finals last season on a heartbreaker, I am looking forward to helping the girls achieve their goals. I like the community feel, and I want to implement a sense of family within the organization.”

The type of basketball Blue wants to implement and coach at Fairfield can be described as aggressive on defense, with Blue saying she wants to make their opponents “uncomfortable.”

“I like an in-your-face style of defense. We will be up close guarding you, and we want to make you uncomfortable,” Blue said. “We will also instill a fast pass and spread attack on the offensive end. With the team being mostly guard-oriented, there is a range of offensive schemes we can do. I need to see the girls in action before we decide exactly which direction we are going to go.”

Year one of taking over a program is always a challenge until players are on the court in a competitive in-game situation. This summer, Blue wants to see her team in action before making a blueprint of what she wants her offense and defense to be.

“Our goal is to instill our culture within the program, learn what works for the girls and implement our offense and defensive schemes into the system,” Blue said of goals for the summer. “I want to see the girls grow over the summer and improve on fundamentals as well.

“I am excited to meet the girls and get started for the summer. We want to have fun, but grow on and off the court at the same time. My coaching staff is looking forward to growing the program and continuing the success they have had on the court.”

Fairfield will compete in Division II of the SHAC this season, as for the past couple years they were in Division I of the conference.