- November 23, 2024
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Matanzas Athletics Director Zach Rigney. Photo by Ray Boone
Zach Rigney is the athletics director at Matanzas High School — a position he's served in since August 2017. He recently spoke with the Palm Coast Observer about the athletic success the school experienced during the 2018-19 school year and what's to come for the Pirates' athletic programs. Here's what he had to say:
Q: How do you think you'll look back on your school's athletic performance during the 2018-19 school year?
We did very well athletically. We had over 10 student-athletes sign to go on to play at the next level. We had some really exciting moments here in the gym against Flagler Palm Coast. Our softball team won its first-ever district title. Our wrestling team was the first Flagler County team to advance to state duals and they also won the district. Overall, a very good season.
Q: I remember the first time I interviewed you when you got the job here at Matanzas, you talked about all the projects you wanted to work on here. You recently installed a new lighting system in the gym. What does that mean for the school?
We're really fortunate to be in a position to where we could put new lighting in the gym. The lighting meets NCAA standards, so if we were ever in position to host an NCAA event, we could do so. It's just really changed the outlook of the gym. It looks professional. That's our target every time we start a project. We want things to look elite, and that's kind of the direction we went in with this lighting project. It'll pay itself back in two years. It's going to save us money in the long run as far as energy costs go. So not only does it look great, it saves the county and ourselves money, as well.
Q: How did the students react to the gym's new lights?
They thought that we had repainted the gym, honestly. The kids are really enjoying the effort that we're putting in to trying to make our facilities the best they can be.
Q: You've now been at Matanzas for two years now. Is there anything you want to do differently about your job entering Year 3?
Year 1 was kind of evaluating and seeing what the needs were, Year 2 was filling those needs and Year 3, I think, is just implementation. People come onto our campus, they see our graphics, they see our lights, they see the new mats, the new scoreboards. As far as facilities go, I feel really comfortable with where we're at. Again, it's just staying with that theme of being competitive and being elite.
Q: What other projects can we expect to see in the future?
Obviously, the new lights were a big priority. Now that we've got that, new wrestling mats are our next priority. That's going to be really exciting. It's going to look really good with the lights in here. That's kind of where we're at for the rest of the offseason.
