Austintown Fitch girls basketball coach Dan Horacek

AUSTINTOWN — It was a long time coming for Dan Horacek — 26 years to be exact.

Austintown Fitch this week elevated the long-time assistant to take the helm of the Falcons’ girls basketball program. It marks a new era of a basketball journey for Horacek, a 2000 graduate of Fitch who served as a waterboy for Falcon teams beginning in second grade, was a manager for some time, played a year in junior high then served as manager again in high school.

“It’s a dream come true,” Horacek said.

Horacek also has helped run a youth program in Austintown in addition to coaching at the junior high and high school levels in varying capacities, most recently as the Falcon girls junior varsity coach. The JV team went 15-5 under Horacek last season, a Fitch press release noted.

Horacek replaces Natalie Lynn, who recently stepped aside after one season in which Fitch went 10-14.

In addition to coaching, the Austintown native and resident serves as an intervention specialist in the district.

“I just felt that for the first time in my life, this was a perfect time to take this over,” Horacek said. “I felt ready, excited. I know the kids. I’ve watched a lot of these kids play basketball since they were in the fifth and sixth grade, so I know their strengths and their weaknesses. I’m bringing most of the coaching staff back from last year, so it’s going to be very comforting to them, and it’s going to be stable for them as well.”

Given his knowledge of Fitch’s roster, which features three returning starters, Horacek already has play styles in mind as he takes over. The newly minted coach says the Falcons won’t feature much in terms of height, but will have the speed and athleticism to make up for it.

As a result, expect Fitch to play at a frenetic pace this winter.

“We’re going to get out, we’re going to get you in space and we’re going to attack the basket. And we’re going to play defense in the full court,” he said.

Horacek added, “These kids are very athletic. A lot of these players played softball last year and won a state championship, so they understand winning and what it takes to win. I’m very excited to see this team play this year.”

Horacek was able to see his team in action in summer league play. While acknowledging you can’t make full judgments about what takes place in July, he said he was encouraged by what he saw.

Now, the Falcons will finish their summer with some open gyms and basic drills for conditioning, shooting, etc., before the dead month of August hits.

When things resume in September, the Falcons will focus on some of the same fundamentals while trying to determine players’ strengths and preferences on the court and devising how to maximize those ahead of the season.

He also says Fitch will focus intently on building defensive communication and boxing out, two things he noted plagued the Falcons in the 2022-23 campaign.

Long-term, Horacek wants to build Austintown Fitch’s program from the bottom up, beginning at the youth and junior high levels before players reach their high school careers.

“The youth programs and middle school program are the lifeblood of our (high school) program,” he said. “If you have a strong youth and a strong middle school program, it just feeds right into your varsity program.”

To that end, Horacek is aiming to involve those youth and junior high players in various ways, such as attending practices or Christmas parties and seeing games. He also wants to attend as many youth and middle school events as possible, and wants his players to take part in that, too, in order to continue to build interest.

Horacek also says he wants to build continuity from those levels up to varsity, including installing key fundamentals and schemes at those younger ages.

“Other programs that are so successful, their girls are running the varsity offense from second, third, fourth grade on. So that’s very important for us to start doing that as well,” he said. “So I want them to be running our offense, running our defense and have the same terminology we’ll use, so as they get older, nothing really changes, they just know what they’re expected to do.”

And as he enters his first season at the top, Horacek noted he’s already received an abundance of support.

“I’ve had a ton of emails, text messages, phone calls from family and friends and just the overall support I’ve gotten from the community,” he said. “It’s just overwhelming, and I really appreciate it.”