Photo courtesy of Todd Kwarcinski
Chris Laatsch
Spain Park High School announced Chris Laatsch as the new boys basketball coach on May 8, 2018.
HOOVER -- The Spain Park High School boys basketball program has found its new leader.
The Hoover board of education named Chris Laatsch as the Jags’ new head coach on Tuesday, May 8, taking over for Donnie Quinn, who retired following the 2017-2018 season.
“It’s a little bit surreal,” Laatsch said. “I’m just humbled and honored that they would entrust this program to me. I grew up in Hoover and remember watching Spain Park get built.”
Laatsch has served as the head boys basketball coach at Helena since 2014 and spent the past year as the school’s athletic director.
He spent 16 years at Briarwood Christian School prior to that. During his time there, the Lions reached the Final Four once and won four area championships. Laatsch remains the winningest coach in school history, and was an assistant coach for four years at UMS-Wright before then. He boasts 378 career wins.
“Coach Laatsch brings a lot to the table for Spain Park,” said Spain Park athletic director Patrick Kellogg. “He is not only a great coach, but a great leader, program builder, and has an excellent vision for our boy's basketball team.”
Laatsch started the program at Helena and led the Huskies to the playoffs each of his four seasons. His inaugural team posted a 17-14 record in 2014-15, while his 2017-2018 team went 30-3 and advanced to the regional semifinals. Laatsch was named the Birmingham Tip-Off Club Coach of the Year.
“It’s tough to leave Helena, a program that I was there when the doors were opened and was the first coach of the school. That community is so special to me and my family,” Laatsch said.
Spain Park struggled to a 5-20 overall record last season, but has been to the state semifinals as recently as 2016.
“Of course, in high school athletics, there’s ups and downs,” Laatsch said. “Those years do happen, but I just believe that the overall pedigree, character and things that are in place here will hopefully give us a chance.”
The girls basketball team’s state championship in March is the Jags’ most recent blue map, but Laatsch said he is excited to join a school with successful teams throughout the athletics department.
He said, “Watching the body of work for so long, they’re so competitive across the board in so many other athletic programs. I have a lot of respect for a lot of the coaches here and what they do.”
In order to elevate his new program to that standard, he will use the same formula he has found success with in previous stops.
Laatsch said, “We’re going to work hard and we’re going to try to put a good product on the floor. But most importantly, we’re going to try to have a program that develops character in men, that they’ll be great men, husbands and fathers one day. That’s going to be the foundation of our program.”
Laatsch grew up in Bluff Park, so the move is in essence a homecoming.
“I’m coming home to Hoover,” he said. “It’s a great school system, a great city, a great community, great athletic program. I just think it’s one of the top in the state. When you get the opportunity, you have to take it.”
Laatsch is a 1994 graduate of the University of Montevallo. He and his wife, Leigh, have seven children and a daughter-in-law.
