After a year of service as the Fountain Hills High School Athletic Director, Amanda Baca, is stepping down from the position in the hopes she can work closer with students in the athletic program as a coach.

“I’ve taught in the district for nine years,” Baca said. “So I am going to go back to full-time teaching P.E. at the middle school and hopefully coach again. That is the main reason that I am not going to come back next year as A.D. I’ve coached girls’ basketball as long as I can remember and I just really miss it. That makes my heart happy.”

Baca grew up playing a variety of sports in high school including track, golf and, of course, basketball. She misses the competitiveness of coaching but also misses the mentoring role she can have with players on her team.

“There is so much I love about coaching,” Baca said. “The competitive aspect, I miss that a lot, just being competitive on a daily basis. I miss the relationship with the kids and, you know, seeing them grow and helping them be the best they can be. Not only on the court but just in school and life, I miss that.”

Baca said she enjoyed her time in the role of athletic director and learned a lot from the experience.

“It was always busy,” Baca said. “I would teach at the middle school for three hours in the morning and then come to the high school for the A.D. stuff. It is a lot of scheduling, a lot of getting contests ready. You also work with the budget, figuring out how we are going to pay for this and that. It is more on the paper work side rather than the face to face side. It was rewarding, it was a good learning experience and I’ll probably, when I am done with coaching, come back to the position.”

While nothing is guaranteed, Baca said she hopes that she will be considered for the position as new coach of Fountain Hills High School girls’ basketball and has even considered what she would focus on if hired.

“I think being away I had a lot of time to reflect on how I coached,” Baca said. “I was fortunate enough to have a little time in the afternoons that I would go to ASU and watch some practices with Charli Thorne and got to pick some coaches’ brains about stuff. So there are some new techniques that I would like to do, especially defensively.”

Baca will continue in her role as athletic director until May.