"I feel very fortunate and I'm very appreciative to have this opportunity," said Heckman, 43, who's a 1992 graduate of Blair Oaks. "I've been around the program my whole life, it's not like I snuck up on anybody, from that standpoint. But this is a little unique, most of the time you don't find somebody at the varsity level who doesn't have that experience.

"People ask me how it's going, and I tell them I don't have anything to compare it to. As far as I know, it's going fine."

You know what? Heckman and the Lady Falcons are doing just fine, thanks --- they were 4-1 going into Thursday night's game with St. James.

"We've talked about just enjoying the game first; I want the girls to have fun playing basketball," Heckman said. "And I think a part of having fun is being competitive and winning, that's obviously what we want to do.

"The girls are excited and they've been really good with their attitude and effort. That helps a lot."

Heckman thought he knew what he was getting into. Well ...

"It's obviously different than coaching AAU or in middle school," Heckman said, "even more different than I anticipated. It's a different pace and I'm learning every day and I'll have to admit, it's something I'm still getting used to and comfortable with.

"I've learned a lot since I got the job June 1. There are a lot of things --- and this is like anything else --- that you don't know about until you start doing it. Comparing it to what I was doing, the amount of time you have in the gym ... you get to practice every day. How to use that effectively and efficiently, I'm learning that.

"Then there are the other things you're responsible for as the head coach, like completing a bus schedule, making sure uniforms are ready to go ... just the logistics of all of it."

Like talking to annoying members of the media.

"I've talked to several coaches," Heckman continued, "some before I decided to apply and some since I've gotten the job, and they've all been pretty consistent --- there a lot of things they couldn't describe to you, you had to start doing it.

"People who coach at the high school level obviously love doing it, because they're not doing it for the money. You do it because you love being around kids and you enjoy the sport.

"So far, it's been really good, really positive. One thing I've realized in a short time is how much fun high schoolers can be. They keep you thinking young."

This year's team is loaded with athletes who've had success in other sports, like softball and volleyball. Even though they're now playing a different sport, you can never discount what they've proven --- knowing how to compete and knowing how to win.

No less than 18 girls who were part of the softball program this fall --- a program that finished second in the state for the second straight year --- are now playing basketball.

"We've talked about the success they had in softball, learning how to win and expecting to win," said Heckman, who's full-time job is running his advertising agency, High 5 Communitions. "It's a habit. They are a very competitive group and they're used to winning, so that's helped a lot."

When you have a lot of good athletes, it's not surprising when you have a lot of players getting playing time.

"We play nine or 10 girls a night," Heckman said, '"and we have a of different options, I think we can play a lot of different ways. We've got some shooters, we've got some size so we can go big, we can go small, we can play fast.

"It's my job to figure out which way we need to play, depending on who we're playing."

The size is supplied 6-2 junior Abby Girard, 5-11 junior Makenna Kliethermes, who's best known for her brilliance as a softball pitcher, and 5-9 junior Brooke Boessen, who's been the team's top scorer, along with 5-7 junior Halie Rackers, in the early going.

Rackers looks to be the top deep threat, while other shooters include 5-4 junior Kayla Jones, 5-7 junior Claire Heckman (the oldest of Darren's three daughters), 5-5 junior Peyton Kusgen and 5-7 senior Sydney Wilde, who's been a four-year fixture on varsity.

In all, the Lady Falcons (13-13 last year) have four seniors and seven juniors who entered this season with a some degree of varsity experience.

"We have a chance," Heckman said, "to be pretty solid by the time we get to February.".

Heckman has goals that reach far beyond February, however, like building a state-championship contender on a regular basis like Sharon Buschjost has done with softball.

That's a lofty goal for a guy just a few games into his high school coaching career --- but it's a worthy goal, nonetheless.

"We want these girls to take some ownership of that," Heckman said, "so five, 10, 15 years down the road, if we can build something, they could say they were a part of it."

Certainly, so could Darren Heckman.

First-year Blair Oaks coach Darren Heckman keeps a close eye on the proceedings during the Lady Falcons' game with Fulton on Wednesday night in Wardsville.

Unproven? Yes. But Heckman
still has big goals for Lady Falcons