West steps down from coaching

Mike West has stepped down as Fallbrook High School’s boys basketball coach after nine seasons at the helm.

West, who has coached in some capacity since arriving at Fallbrook High School in 1995, resigned his coaching role in order to spend more time with his family.

“It’s been wonderful, but I have a five-year-old and a 15-year-old,” he said.

In addition to the time commitment of coaching a team, West’s coaching duties also resulted in more trips between the coach’s Carmel Valley home and Fallbrook. “That’s always made it kind of tough,” he said.

West began teaching at the high school in 1995. He spent a year as the boys junior varsity coach, a year as an assistant varsity coach, and a year as the girls varsity coach before taking over as the boys head coach in 1999-2000. West teaches special education at the high school when he is not coaching.

West never obtained his goal of a league championship; the closest he came was missing the league title by one game. “We actually didn’t accomplish what we wanted to in terms of winning a league championship, but we were always very competitive,” he said. “We always were overachievers in getting the most out of our players.”

West made the decision to step down in early May. “The biggest thing I’ll miss is just the relationships I’ve been able to build with the kids over the years,” he said.

West plans to continue the relationships he has already built with former players. “For me that’s always been the most satisfying part,” he said.

West will continue to teach at the high school and is keeping an open mind about a return to coaching. “Down the road we’ll see what happens,” he said.

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