Concord’s alumni, Christopher Thorrez, was enrolled here at Concord and played basketball for his whole life. He graduated in 2006 and came back to be our newest varsity basketball coach, and he’s doing amazing. The way Thorrez coaches is very beneficial to the team. He doesn’t just address and coach the team as a whole, he individualizes advice for his athletes and gives them the coaching they need personally.
Thorrez’s family, his wife Whitney Thorrez, and his daughter Braelynn Thorrez really encouraged him to take that next step from assistant coaching at the middle school to being a varsity coach. Braelynn Thorrez, who plays on her dad’s team, has a more complex relationship with her coach. When asking how she separates her dad and coach, Braelynn says, “Normally, what we do is after practice, he’ll tell me what advice I want first, coach advice or dad advice. That’s kind of how we both kind of separate how he feels during basketball.”
Out of so many loving memories Christopher has with his daughter, they both would agree on last year’s basketball tournament that they won against Maple Valley. Braelynn agrees that it was an important moment for the two of them.
When Christopher was asked about his sports career here at Concord, he said he had played here all his life. While playing, he looked up to his coach, Mr. Lehman, and his cousins, who had played before him.
Our athletic director and coach, Matt Lehman, says even though Thorrez is inexperienced as a coach, “He has great knowledge of the game, and he’s very personable with the student-athletes. He can give constructive criticism in a way that is positive. He was also an excellent player in high school and understands what work needs to be done to be good!”
Thorrez says the most important thing he’s accomplished is communicating with people who are completely different from you and learning how to bring out the best in people, which is also why he also says the most important thing to keep in mind while playing is that “we’re all family at the end of the day, and that we should have all each other’s backs.”
Thorrez has made a great impact on our teams since he played and coached with us. We hope to see him continue to make more positive impacts on our varsity team!
