Van Horn winter previews

Boys Basketball
By BILL ALTHAUS
bill.althaus@examiner.net

Mickey Murray enjoyed a great life in Waynesville, Mo., where he was an assistant boys basketball coach that won back-to-back district titles the past two years.
“I enjoyed my time at Waynesville,” Murray said, “but when I heard what was happening at Van Horn, I had to be a part of it.
“It’s kind of hard to explain to people how a 50-year-old school can start all over again, but that’s what we’re doing. Will it be tough? Sure it will. Will it be a challenge? Of course.
“But after a few months, I know I made the right decision. I am so excited about the kids and this team. We had two boys who attended most of our open gyms during the summer. We had great turnout for open gym during the fall and we had 45 players grades nine through 12 get information on sign-up day.”
Murray said he’s happy with his numbers he’s seen, but that his team is definitely short on experience.
“Right now, we have about 30 kids for all our programs, with one player with any type of experience and that’ a 5-10 junior guard named Raymond Hernandez, who moved here from North Kansas City.
“If you’re going to have any experience, it’s nice to have it at the guard position. At least we know we’ll have someone who can break a press and get the ball down the court.”   
Murray plans on playing an up-tempo brand of basketball and knows his team is two or three years from making a real statement.
“Right now, we’re looking for the small victories,” he said, “like getting all the kids to practice. The players who are here are working hard. We just need to build our numbers.
“Getting the football players helped. We’re going to be so young, but that will help us build for the future. And if fans haven’t seen our new gym – which was just painted in the school colors, we encourage them to come out to a game and give these players some support. This is going to be a special year, because everything is new at Van Horn High School.”

Girls Basketball
By BILL ALTHAUS
bill.althaus@examiner.net

No varsity returnees.
No problem.
“We’re building a new program, and we couldn’t be any more excited,” said first-year Van Horn girls basketball coach Sean Akridge.
“My goals don’t deal our record this season,” Akridge said. “My goal right now is to get 20 girls out for our program. Right now, we’re at 14 junior varsity and varsity, and we’re hoping that number continues to grow.
“We’re facing some of the usual problems – girls getting their physicals, getting the girls to a try out so they can see what the team is all about – it’s a learning process and we’re all learning together.”
The 2008 Van Horn team will feature all new faces as most players from last year’s team transferred to East High School.
“We’re new, we’re young and we’re excited,” Akridge said. “I’ve been going around and talking to the cross country girls and the volleyball girls, trying to get them to come out for the team. We have a couple of volleyball girls who are coming out for the team. Basketball can be pretty intimidating – especially on the varsity level. And we’re talking to girls who have never played the sport.
“We have one girl who has played some junior varsity ball and that’s Lauren Daniels, a 5-7 sophomore guard. Rebecca Robins, a 5-6 junior guard; and 5-5 junior guard Adrianna Hernandez could also help the team.”
Akridge said the Van Horn situation is definitely unique.
“I don’t know if there is a situation like the one we are facing at Van Horn in the state,” he said. “Our school has been here a long, long time. But it’s a new school now that it’s part of the Independence School District.
“So we have an old school with a new teaching and coaching staffs and new players on all our teams. It’s just so exciting. I hope the girls realize that they can be a part of something unique and exciting.
“Sure, some of them are a little bit afraid right now, wondering how they will perform. I’ve seen them in practice. I’ve watched them grow every day and I know this season will be something we’ll always remember.”

Wrestling
By JASON TARWATER
jason.tarwater@examiner.net

The buzz word for Van Horn has been “new” all year long.
So adding a new sport only seems natural.
Head football coach Jeff Tolbert has decided to take on another challenge, as he will be the coach for the new wrestling team at Van Horn.
When introduced as the new football coach at Van Horn over the summer, Tolbert expressed a desire to start a wrestling program at the school.
“I felt like it was important,” Tiolbert said. “I think it’s a great compliment to football.”
Currently, the Falcons have around 15 athletes out for the sport with varying amounts of youth experience.
“We’re doing a lot of conditioning and working on footwork,” Tolbert said. “We’re taking a look at some of these kids. I think about three to five of them have some wrestling experience.”
In addition to being a first-year program, the Falcons will have another stumbling block as the school does not have all of the equipment necessary for practices.
“We haven’t been able to do anything on a mat, because we don’t have one,” Tolbert said. “Training is virtually impossible. It’s frustrating. We called around and there doesn’t appear to be one in the district. We’re getting mixed signals. The worst case scenario is we’ll be able to get one when the junior high is done with its season in December.
“It’s supposed to be nice the next few days. We might go out in the grass and do some footwork drills.”
Tolbert said he has talked about possibly using the wrestling room at Truman or William Chrisman when not being utilized, but said transportation and schedules would be hard to work around.
Despite the lack of experience, and the lack of equipment, the Falcons will get thrown in early, as not many will get a chance to develop through the junior varsity ranks.
Tolbert said he expects his team to wrestle a full varsity schedule, including trying to qualify for state at the district tournament in February.
“Because of our numbers, we may have to throw some of them right into the fire,” Tolbert said. “We’re not going to wrestle much of a junior varsity schedule. Everybody is probably going to have varsity experience.”
And that experience could help build the foundation for a successful wrestling program at Van Horn.