New era for FHS basketball team

FALLBROOK — The guests at last week’s Fallbrook Village Rotary meeting were Fallbrook High School (FHS) basketball coach Jeff Brandon and players Jake Ware and Derik Hasvold.

Brandon went through school in Carlsbad, where he played basketball, then went to San Diego State.

He planned to go into law, but one summer, when he was 18, he coached a youth camp. That experience was so inspiring that he changed his career to teaching.

Brandon taught at Oceanside prior to moving to Fallbrook.

His goal is to get the community’s enthusiasm up to fully support their basketball team.

According to Brandon, his players must do the following:

1. Represent the school and the community. They are to dress similarly, with coats and ties; keep their grades up; and show respect to their fellow students, teachers and members of the community.

2. Compete fairly and play hard. They are to concentrate on the little things of the game and then the “big” things will fall into place to make a winning season.

Brandon’s expectations of his team are that they be highly motivated and competitive and make more than 70 percent of their free throws.

He hopes they will make the play-offs and beat Carlsbad this year and pack the gym with community members at each game.

Hasvold and Ware explained offensive and defensive positions and plays the team is going to make.

When they had finished their presentation, Brandon briefly expanded on their descriptions of the plays. He described the training the team is doing, which is rigorous and meant to build self-confidence.

This will be a new era for the Fallbrook High School basketball team, and from the enthusiasm generated by Hasvold and Ware, this year will be a good one.