Morton ISD has been making big moves hiring new coaches to continue what the others left behind, that includes new Girls Basketball Head Coach Eric Velasquez.
Coach Velasquez has been coaching for 10 years, and has some experience as the head coach in Petersburg but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to coach in Morton.
“My wife’s family is from here, so when the opportunity came up, I went and took a shot at it and thankfully I was able to get the job,” said Coach Velasquez.
When asked about his previous job roles and if they’ll be able to help him with coaching in Morton, he thinks they will. He hopes to build something special in Morton and wants to build a foundation for the future for the school.
“I’m moving in from a head coaching position, I’ve had some really great support from administration, from parents things like that, and really from every program that I’ve been able to take over,” said Coach Velasquez. “We’ve really had to start at the foundational level and along the way it’s really helped me to see what works and what does not work. I think that’s really set me up for success here in Morton.”
Other factors that the coach is excited for is the community that Morton has to offer. He says the town and students are just waiting to see what they can do and he’s excited to show everyone that Morton can be a powerhouse school that teams will have to go through.
“I think there is a lot of interest in seeing what’s going to happen with the girls program with me taking over. We’ve had a couple of spectators come into our skills camp and like what they’re seeing,” explained Coach Velasquez. “We have a new athletic director, a new girls coach coming in and we’re looking to bring a couple of other coaches in for football, so I think everyone is just excited to see what we can do.”
Velasquez knows that the students have a lot of untapped potential that they can unlock with hard work and consistency. Some students aren’t able to show, but make up for it later and he knows that’s maturity on their level and commitment.
“This will be our second week of strength and conditioning, so last week was kind of slim,” says Coach Velasquez. “We had cheer camp going on, so a lot of our girls were gone since they do everything around here. This week we’re averaging around 20 to 25 kids coming into strength and conditioning, so that is pretty good for a 1A. We’ve got a lots of junior high coming, but high school students are really showing up and they’ve been working.”
Coach Velasquez’s plan for the future includes involving the community and getting the kids bought into the program and making them believe in themselves. Not only that, but to teach them good work ethics and skills they can use in the future.
“The main thing is to build the foundation and really show not only our girls, but our community that we’re a force to be reckoned with,” said Coach Velasquez. “We’ve got some really great girls that can be hard workers and I really want to teach the hard working part and then after that we can teach them skills and everything else after that.”
Coach Velasquez plans to make the culture and community stronger for the future to come and he is very excited to do so. He wants the town to be ecstatic about what he has to bring to the school and can’t want to show what Morton is all about.
“I want to pack the house and change the environment. In a small town everybody wants to go on a Tuesday or Friday night and watch a home game,” explained Coach Velasquez. “I think that starts with me and how I build the program. I want the girls to believe in themselves and promote our program. From there, we’ll have a lot of people come and enjoy our games.”
The transition hasn’t been the easiest for Coach Velasquez, but he knows it’ll be worth it with all the family he has from and in Morton.
“We have so much family here on my wife’s side that we are able to visit now whenever. Now my kids can see their grandparents without us having to take off for special occasions, now they’re right down the street I love that about this town,” added Coach Velasquez. “It’s a close knit community and I can see me and my family being here for a long time.”
His daughter will also be joining the program with him for the first time, so for him that’s a huge reason that he can’t wait to get started.
“The main thing for me is my daughter is going to be entering the athletic world this year,” said Coach Velasquez. “She’ll be entering the seventh grade, so the entire time I’m raising her, she will be on the sideline watching, doing everything and she gets to participate.