Meet the New SOCO Basketball League Commissioner

Brian Blanc

We would like to welcome our new General Manager, Brian Blanc. He will be taking over for Kyle Maring, who has been with SoCo for the past two seasons. Congratulations Kyle on your brand new, 7 pound, 21 inch future All Star!! Thanks to Kyle for his key role as we emerged from the Covid lockdowns.

As the SOCO General Manger, Brian’s focus is on the planning and execution of SOCO Basketball youth leagues, including team recruitment and training, venue needs, game schedules, awards, event operations, and coordination of officials. He also oversees team registration and coordination of the SOCO Basketball League. Brian will also assist with the planning and on-site operational duties for a variety of youth events, including coach enrichment, camps, and Nuggets Experience.

Brian began coaching Basketball in 1996 in Grand Junction Colorado where he founded the West Region Basketball Congress International area basketball program (BCI). He has been a coach and partner with SoCo for several years.

Brian has been a long-time Basketball coach in the Colorado Springs area at both the High School and youth basketball levels. Brian has coached with several Colorado Hall of Fame coaches in the area including Gary Childress, Al Blanc, and Dan McKeirnan. Most recently as an Assistant coach for the Doherty Girls Basketball program. Brian has served at every level of basketball and has represented Southern Colorado in many AAU and youth tournaments as a youth coach.

Currently, Brian is a Special Education teacher in Colorado Springs School District 11. Brian also has experience as a School and District administrator and has a passion for youth sports. He brings a wealth of knowledge and systems-level experience in relation to running leagues and tournaments for SOCO Basketball.

Brian is a former college Division II basketball player and has a Master of Administration Leadership (Grand Canyon University) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Performance and Wellness (Colorado Mesa University). He also has an accreditation in Special Education (Western Colorado University).

We are excited and fortunate to have Brian on board! You can contact Brian at:

socoblanc@gmail.com

719-749-1133

SOCO Basketball's Mission

Southern Colorado Basketball (SoCo) is a locally owned organization that emphasizes good sportsmanship and fair play. Throughout the year, SoCo offers numerous different basketball opportunities to kids and teams to include leagues, tournaments, and camps. Integrity and character are attributes that are fostered through the time spent participating in SoCo Basketball.

League Information: The SoCo League is available to teams interested in taking their skills to the next level. Coaches who have either a boys team, or girls team in grades 4th-8th (during the present school year) can sign up their team for our fall and/or spring league. Both leagues include an eight game regular season that leads to a single elimination tournament.

There are no admission fees for spectators during the 8 regular season league games. SoCo provides the organization for the league, all game sites, referees, t-shirts (not uniforms), awards for the tournament winners and insurance for games. SoCo will also provide liability insurance for facilities at which your team practices and plays. This is included in the cost of SoCo. Teams must be registered or related the SoCo league or tournament for the insurance to be effective. If you need your practice facility covered, as an additionally insured facility, please contact us. The spring season usually starts the 1st weekend of April. Games are not played on Easter Sunday or Mother’s day weekend. The deadline for registering a team is around mid March. Spring games are played on Friday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sunday after 12:00pm. The fall season starts around the 2nd weekend of September and runs through late October. The deadline for entering is in early September. Fall games are played Saturday afternoon and Sundays after noon.

Teams may have one or two games scheduled per weekend. In consideration of family planning, all schedules will be given out prior to the first game and are established for the remainder of the season. Coaches must watch a mandatory video held prior to each season to discuss expectations. If a particular division has 10-14 teams +, SoCo may split the division into either the Gold or Silver division. The Gold division will be for more advanced teams, and the Silver for teams still developing. We do expect the Silver division to be very competitive as well. We can help you decide which division is best for your team.

Camp Information:

SoCo offers basketball camps to individual kids. Typically SoCo operates 2-3 camps per summer.

Tournament Information:

SoCo typically offers one summer basketball tournament in conjunction with the annual Rocky Mountain State Games. This is usually held the second to last weekend in July.