Flattery to lead Fairfield girls? basketball

Mick Flattery stepped away from the Fairfield boys? basketball program after 19 years, and in his three years off, he has done plenty of coaching.

But the itch to be a high school basketball coach needed to be scratched, and, pending approval from the Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors at its July 11 meeting, Flattery will take the reigns of the Fairfield girls? basketball program.

?Once you?re in it, and in it that long, I?m not sure it ever leaves you ? the drive to run a program,? he said. ?I?ve thought about what would happen if the opportunity came up, and now that it has, I wanted to jump back into it.?

Oldest daughter Meredith was a 2010 graduate of FHS, and his younger daughter, Mackenzie, who will be an eighth grader at FMS in the fall, have both been heavily involved with the girls? basketball program and have certainly kept Flattery in familiar territory. He will combine that with a successful track record to try to lead the Fairfield team that figures to return all five starters from the 2010-11 season.

?Coaching other sports, coaching summer camps and AAU teams has kept me active, and it was a good time to recharge the batteries in regards to some of the behind-the-scenes stuff,? he said.

Flattery took the boys? team to the state tournament in his final season in 2008, has coached three golf teams to the state meet ? including an appearance last month ? and filled his time in recent years coaching middle school football and basketball. Now he will take it all up another notch to jump-start the girls? program that has gone a combined 18-45 the last three seasons.

That record includes a 3-21 mark in Southeast Conference play, but Flattery now hopes to adopt a winning attitude and make Trojan basketball a hot ticket once more.

?Pressure basketball has always been my style, and we hope to be very entertaining. We want to do anything it takes to win a basketball game,? he said. ?I want this basketball program to be something people look back and wish they were a part of and people looking ahead can?t wait to be a part of.?

The young girls looking ahead will now form the foundation of the program Flattery said he wants to run from Elementary all the way up to varsity. A solid starting point is already in place with the network of volunteer coaches and parents working in the younger ranks.

?There is a lot of untapped potential in my opinion, and a lot of girls who are ready to get after it,? Flattery added. ?I?m very excited to get going. It will be a fun challenge, but it will take a lot of hard work.?