Happy New Years to all Coaches, Players, Parents, and Fans! This club could not be what it has become without you, and EVERYONE thanks you for being part of something that is “WE” centered and not “ME” centered! Every Year I get really proud of what players and families that are part of the Heat have achieved! I begin to think about players just starting to learn the game, the athletes that will be going off to college in the Class of 2016 and what they will accomplish, then I think of the Alumnae and what they are accomplishing now! It is quite remarkable and quite humbling as a Coach and as a Director! Just a few highlights of the year: #1-Addition of Boys teams has been unbelievable, it takes me back 10 years ago when this all started with a 5th grade girls team and little did we know Rockford Heat would change the landscape of girls basketball in this Region; #2-The Class of 2016 will be the 3rd year in a row that female athletes from the club will be going on to play at Div 1 and Div 2 Collegiate levels(Rockford Heat has only had Varsity Teams for 3 Years); #3-Heat Players continue to catch the attention of college coaches, this was a record breaking year for the amount of college coaches that were courtside for our games during the “NCAA Live” periods!
WOW! Even though these are amazing accomplishments, now we will focus on what we can do better to help kids achieve their “Next Level” this year!
John Penney
