News
Randall Krutsch introduced as Luna’s new athletic director
Randall Krutsch is Luna Community College’s new athletic director. Krutsch is also the college’s softball coach. The following is a one-on-one interview with Krutsch.
First of all, how is it leading Luna’s athletic department?
I feel that it is a privilege to be the athletic director for Luna. I think there are a series of objectives to achieve to make Luna athletics one of the best.
How many years do you have here at Luna and what were your job titles?
This is my third year at Luna. I started as the assistant softball coach and was promoted to head coach in December of my first year and that is where I remain now along with the duties of athletic director.
How many years’ experience do you have in athletics?
I started coaching at San Gabriel High School in Southern California in 1991 after my playing days were behind me and I coached baseball for a number of years before moving to Women’s Fastpitch. All together, I have been coaching for about 16 years.
Where would you like to see Luna athletics in the next few years?
I would love to see Luna grow into other sports. In the post pandemic world, colleges have been hit very hard with in person learning. Sports are a great way to attract more students to campus and get students directed toward a degree or trade that will then grow into careers that they will be able to contribute to society in a positive way.
Luna was very competitive in both baseball and softball this year, what are the keys to keep the momentum going into next season?
Yes, both baseball and softball had record seasons in many regards. I believe there are a number of factors that we need to address to continue the growth trajectory that we have worked hard to build. First is program management. The programs need to be strong and stable to attract the top athletes and continually attract New Mexico athletes. Second is recruiting. College recruiting is a year-round event and both programs have done a great job at attracting strong talent especially in New Mexico. Third, we need to become more aggressive with our fundraising campaigns.
Most college programs rely heavily on fundraising to support their efforts and now that we are building quality programs, we need to maximize these opportunities. Fourth is facilities. We are moving out of Highlands University fields and onto Rodriguez fields this year, which is a huge step forward and very attractive for recruits. Our new building is a great step forward, but to make it the showcase piece for current and prospective athletes, we will need to improve the facility.
We need to fix some exterior aspects and give it a fresh coat of paint to make it blend into our beautiful campus. Fifth is we need to make sure our student-athletes are all on a graduation path and grades are meeting a higher expectation than the minimum requirement to participate. I would like Luna athletics to have some Academic All-Americans and Athletic All-Americans. A strong academic base is foundational to everything we do athletically.
When you are out recruiting, what do you tell a potential student-athlete about the reasons for playing and coming to school at Luna?
We tell recruits about our class size, reasonable tuition rates, our outstanding faculty that are committed to the students’ success and of course our athletic programs being competitive in our region. Both teams starting to develop more wins is always attractive to athletes.
Female athletes in particular want to be part of a program that they are integral in its success. In softball, we spend a lot of time and energy in areas other than softball. For instance, we put on free clinics for the Las Vegas Little League and we do a camp in Albuquerque that is free of charge to all New Mexico High School softball players. We do many team events to have fun and enjoy being a college athlete besides just playing and practicing softball.
We try to give our student athletes a full college experience that will be fun and energetic. There is an extremely low chance of playing after college for female athletes, so our athletes want to get the most out of the experience as they can.
Having a female coach is also a great incentive to play at Luna. Coach Jess is a former college athlete that brings playing experience and her solid education to the team for their benefit. Another selling point for Luna is that we are a teaching- based program. Both programs work many details at teaching the game to our athletes. I believe this is a large part of our programs success.
What are some of the challenges coaches have at Luna?
I think that some challenges that we face at Luna are like most junior colleges. Being in a town away from large cities such as Santa Fe and Albuquerque means, we need to house our student athletes. Not having housing on campus is a challenge, but having Highlands near is truly a big help. Problem with this is that our campus life is a little different from colleges that have housing.
Being a small school is great in most regards, but school size does impact class choices and time options for student athletes. Much of our competitors are fully funded or near fully funded, so having less scholarship dollars is a challenge that we deal with.
Fortunately, our school is very reasonably priced for students to afford school, but again, not having control of housing means Luna does not benefit financially from housing and board. We have a great faculty and administration that supports our athletes, but it would be great to have more teams to grow the school.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
When I started at Luna, it was supposed to be a short stay, but since then I have grown not only to appreciate the uniqueness of Luna, but the great people that make Luna special. I see myself here at Luna for the foreseeable future.
What do you want people to know about Randy Krutsch, who is the man behind the coach?
That I love what I do and I love coaching at the junior college level. The whole reason that I have the degrees that I have is because of junior college. I did not perform well in high school and junior college was my only option. A teacher, not a coach changed my life and recognized that I have dyslexia and helped me when no one else did.
At this level, coaches have a true opportunity if they seek it to have a very big impact on their athletes’ lives. Getting to know players, their stories and the uniqueness that makes them who they are is a great blessing.
I enjoy sharing my life’s stories with them, not only the success but more importantly the failures that I have had. Having young adults learn that life is about making choices and handling the results from those choices are important. We live in a world that is so focused on instant gratification and parents swooping in to pick up their kids when they fall, that real life results are hard. I want all my athletes to know they can trust me to support them and care for them not only when they are successful, but more importantly when they fail.
What would you like people to say about Luna athletics in the next few years?
I want people to recognize how much we are committed to our student-athletes and how much we care about them. I want people, especially New Mexicans to have Luna on their “want” list for baseball and softball and hopefully many other sports. Winning is a byproduct of many people doing many things correctly. When we are winning consistently, I really don’t care what they say as long as they recognize that we are doing a whole bunch of things correctly.
Any final comments?
I want to thank all of the wonderful faculty and staff at Luna. There are so many hard working people that never get the recognition they deserve. Athletics cannot function on its own. One trip to play an opponent takes several people’s time, energy and expertise just to get the athletes on the bus and they cannot hear thank you enough.
Our facilities will not function properly without the facilities force working hard to ensure our athletes have the best facilities we can provide. Our instructors work with athletes crazy schedules and afford them opportunities to come in after hours for tutoring or make up lab times etc.
Athletes are touched by every single department in our school and I cannot thank them enough for all the work that everyone does for us. The year 2024 is going to be an exciting one, and I hope everyone gets a chance to come watch a game and support our Rough Riders!