The new coach of the Foothills Falcons senior girls basketball team had STARS in his eyes when he returned to his alma mater.

Travis Wilson, a member of the 2002-03 Foothills Falcons’ senior boys basketball team, has returned to the school to coach. One of his biggest influences is former Falcons coach Mark Hogan, who established the successful STARS Basketball program in Okotoks. STARS is youth basketball program in Okotoks.

Foothills Falcons coach Travis Wilson eyes the action during the Falcons-Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves Senior girls basketball game at Okotoks on Jan. 6. Wilson is a former Falcon who graduated from the school in 2003. photo by Bruce Campbell

“I worked with Mark Hogan at STARS and that helped lay the foundation for coaching,” Wilson said. “The training he gave me at STARS helped me into leading the group… I like to think we are doing things the way he would have liked it, I wouldn’t be here without Mark Hogan.”

Hogan was also Wilson’s coach in 2002-03 at Foothills.

“The Comp was a very good school to me, it gave me a lot. The opportunity to give back to a program that gave me so much was something I couldn’t pass up,” Wilson said.

Wilson and co-coach Carolyn Lenstra are taking over a team that has struggled over the past two years. He said he would like the Falcons to have the same confidence the girls’ team had in 2002-03 when he was at Foothills.

Under then coach Marg Brown the Falcons girls’ team, with Savannah Magnussen and Kaela Chapdelaine in the lineup, dominated the league.

“Watching Marg Brown coach was also an influence on me,” Wilson said.  “When the Falcons took the court back then they just knew they were going to win. The biggest thing coming here was getting the girls’ confidence back up.”

He said the team’s confidence and skills have continued to grow. It was helped when they beat the Holy Trinity Knights for the first time in years at the start of the season.

The Falcons have won three games this season in the Foothills Athletic Council after beating Notre Dame Collegiate  74-60 on Jan. 6. They were winless in league play last season.

The Falcons are relying on team speed to make up for a lack of height.

“One thing we have really worked hard on is conditioning,” Wilson said. “The girls worked hard over the break and we are getting there.”

Lenstra was the head coach of the Falcons two years ago and she said Wilson is a welcomed addition to the team.

“He’s the brains behind the operation — the motivator, the planner,” Lenstra said. “He’s exactly what this program needed.”

If Wilson looks close enough, he will see some familiar faces on his squad.

“Tori Richards is the sister of Matt Richards who I played with at Foothills,” Wilson said. “Danielle Berns is the sister of Brittany Berns who I graduated with.”

There are also four players on the team who Wilson coached while working with STARS in Okotoks.

0 Recommend This Post

 Email This Post  Print This Post