Haizlip takes the helm as Bainbridge boys basketball coach

Published 1:27 pm Thursday, November 19, 2015

Family is the emphasis of the short and the long game for Steve Haizlip.

Both the one he brings with him from home and the one he meets up with at the gym.

In fact, the new Bainbridge High boys varsity basketball head coach said that during the competitive season there’s really no difference between the two.

“I would say I get essentially 30-plus additional kids of my own on the court,” Haizlip said. “I have my three at home, but I get a basketball family at the gym and it’s pretty special.

“That’s why I do this,” he added.

The Bellevue native first moved to the island nearly three years ago and was announced as the new Spartan head coach earlier this year following the departure of Scott Orness, who accepted the head coach position with the North Kitsap High boys basketball program.

Haizlip has three young sons and his wife Kristen is an associate principal at BHS. He was previously the head coach of the Newport High boys basketball team.

“It’s the best thing ever,” Haizlip said of the opportunity to work in the community where he lives.

“We love this community, our boys love it. I was commuting for two years to Newport, and I give everything I have when I coach, but I started sensing a disconnect and knew I was starting to become more connected here.”

Spending more time with his sons and involving them in practices is a great pleasure for Haizlip, he said, and something he feels benefits the team greatly.

“My three boys, for two years, really didn’t get to see a lot of me coaching,” he said. “I think I’m a better coach when they’re around.

“I stress family with our players [and] with my own kids, and the first day that I had them at open gym here I was so excited. To walk in the gym with them and see them dribbling with the Bainbridge players, it was awesome.”

For the players too, he added, the presence of the young audience is a good thing.

“Family first,” the coach said. “It’s just a game that we’re playing. For me, the players [are] role models to my sons. I stress that to them a lot.”

Haizlip said he got serious about coaching basketball toward the end of his own playing career at Chabot College in California, but had long felt a desire to experience the game from the perspective of a manager.

“I always just liked breaking down the game,” he said. “So I knew at some point I would be a coach.”

Previous coaches in Haizlip’s spot have expressed dissatisfaction with the school’s placement in the Metro League, saying that it forced the team to compete against private schools with unfair advantages and thus put the players in a disheartening situation.

Haizlip said he has no qualms with the current league and plans to play the same regardless.

“I’m going to coach where I’m told to coach,” he said. “Scott did a great job and previous coaches did a great job. I have high expectations and hopefully we can not only maintain what they’ve been doing but also take a step farther.

“As far as Metro goes,” he added, “I think it’s a great opportunity and great exposure to play against some of the best people in the country and not only do we get to play against them, we’ve competed and had success.

“Don’t focus on who we’re playing, focus on how we’re playing.”

With season tryouts set to begin Monday, Nov. 16, Haizlip said he was extremely excited to get started.

“I think it’s going to be a really great year,” he said. “I relate this team a little to some other teams that I’ve had [where], within, we’ve had high expectations but maybe outside expectations weren’t as high and we did very well. I’m pretty excited about that.”

When he’s not working or spending time with his family, Haizlip enjoys watching college and pro-level basketball and analyzing the styles and tactics of those coaches.

“I can be fiery, but I can also be very chill,” he said of his own style. “I’m going to give them everything I have. No matter how many games we win or we lose, because the most important thing to me is this: I coach because I want to help develop young men and [that] has nothing to do with how many wins we have in a season.

“I’m going to push them pretty hard,” he said of this year’s squad. “But, at the same time, I really want them to know that I’m behind them 100 percent.”

Looking to the years to come, Haizlip said that his goal for the island program was the creation of nothing short of a dynasty, one dedicated to sustained quality training, personal growth for all involved and also teaching responsibility, sportsmanship and dedication.

“I’m just excited to build something so amazing here,” he said.

“My expectations this year — and in the years going forward — are very high, but I also want to build something that’s also sustainable. It’s not just this year we’re good and next year we’re not. I want to be competitive every single year, whatever that may mean [and] that may mean state one year, that may mean districts one year.

“What we want Bainbridge to be known as is, anytime you come step on the court with Bainbridge, it’s gong to be a tough competition,” he said.

“It’s going to be a tough game, win or lose.”