Gerrett Spears, coach of the Kingfisher High School girls basketball team, was the guest speaker of the Kingfisher Rotary Club earlier this week.

Spears narrated a Power-Point presentation featuring the principles and steps he demands of his players to build the program.

Spears is in his first year here after leaving the Enid High School girls basketball position, where he coached for two years.

He said his wife Racheal was raised in Kingfi sher, and his family made the move here to be closer to their young son’s grandparents, and because he liked the overall culture of the school.

“This school grows winners. I think we can build the foundation of a basketball program here for our girls that can be very successful,” Spears said.

“We do it in other sports here and I certainly believe we can win at a high level in girls basketball.”

Spears noted that his building principles start in the grade school by stressing skill development.

He said he and his high school assistants and junior high coaches are already implementing that program with more than 40 girls in third-sixth grades attending the “Junior Jacket” weekly sessions which stress dribbling, passing and shooting.

“At that age, it should be all about the fundamentals,” he said.

He commented that several of the grade school girls complained that the sessions were boring.

“That’s a good thing,” he said. “They can do the fun things at times, too, but until they get those basic skills down, they will have a much more diffi cult time getting better at the game later on,” he said.

Spears was introduced by Rotarian and Kingfi sher Public Schools Superintendent Jason Sternberger.