After seventeen years teaching P.E. and coaching AHS men’s basketball, Steve Ketchum, also know as Coach K, has decided to move on from Aspen to try something new, but very exciting for him. With a new job offer in Ponderosa, Colorado, as boys’ basketball coach, Ketchum will be moving there next year to coach and be a substitute. After taking a year off from coaching basketball last year to be with his family, Ketchum realized how much he missed coaching at a higher level. Because of this, he began searching for new job opportunities and thought that it would be fun to get back to coaching in a big city at a 5A school.

“A great opportunity fell in my lap. They really wanted me so they came after me hard. It was too good to pass up especially since I’m not teaching anymore so all my energy can be focused on coaching and my own family,” Ketchum said.

With a great track record at AHS, a few 5A schools hoped to hire Ketchum as a new basketball coach, but he said Ponderosa was the best option for himself and his family. Since he coached at AHS, the skiers’ basketball team has broken every school record you can think of: most wins, most league championships, and most trips to the State Championships. According to the Aspen Times, the Aspen Skiers have won 282 games, played twice in the state championships and have had fifteen kids play basketball in college, all in the sixteen years Ketchum coached. AHS students still remember him in a very positive way as he moves on to a new team.

“Coach K was extremely influential both on and off the court. He preached hard work and knew how to turn teenagers into mature young men. He was able to consistently bring teams together and created an environment in which we could learn from each other and better one another,” junior Jack Rosenthal said.

Another thing Ketchum is known for is a game famous around AHS that has evolved throughout the years into an extremely competitive activity during PE and even lunches. Many years ago, Ketchum got the idea from a teaching colleague who was visiting from Nauset High School. She told him about this game call Nauset Ball, and he asked her to teach it to the class. Over the years Ketchum modified the game by adding aspects of different sports. It has become so popular that Ketchum has a Nauset ball tournament every year on ski day to raise money for charity.

Although Ketchum will be moving to Ponderosa, his wife and five adopted sons will be staying here for the next year to make sure that coaching at Ponderosa is everything he expected and that he wants to stay. Because of this, Ketchum will not become a stranger to AHS. He hopes to come back to Aspen at least four days a week during the fall and spring to be with his family and substitute teach at AHS when he is available.

“As a basketball coach I want the kids to remember me as a winner, but more importantly than winning, this applies to both basketball and PE is that I was somebody that cared about kids and hopefully I inspired and motivated some of them and helped them have a great time while they were here,” Ketchum said.