Trinidad Coach George Dasko Retires After Reaching 500 Career Wins

George Dasko walked away from Hoehne High School's boys basketball program this spring with a 504-189 career record and more than 40 years of coaching behind him, closing a tenure that touched nearly every gymnasium in southeast Colorado.

Dasko, who was raised in Walsenburg and graduated from Pueblo Central High School in 1966, arrived in Trinidad in 1981 to take over the Miners basketball program. He wasted little time: two Trinidad teams reached the state tournament in quick succession, and he returned to the postseason again in the late 1980s. During that same stretch, he served as an assistant coach for the Trinidad Miners football team, a staff that claimed three state championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"We had some very good basketball teams back then. It was an honor to coach them," Dasko said.

He stepped away in 1991, but the break did not last. Around 2000, Dasko returned to Trinidad High School to build the Lady Miners program from the ground up, constructing what became a consistent state-tournament presence. His record with the THS girls reached 259-94 across 16 seasons, a 73 percent winning clip. The infrastructure he built below the varsity level, he said, made the difference.

"We had a good program for the girls from the start, summer camps, youth programs and a good junior high program," Dasko said. "By the time the girls got to me at the high school, they were ready to play."

After semi-retiring from THS, Dasko moved to Hoehne to assist Coach Kent Smith with the boys program. That final stint pushed his career win total past 500, a threshold rarely reached at the prep level. His overall record across Walsenburg, Trinidad and Hoehne stands at 504-189, a 72 percent winning percentage that includes a 187-57 mark with the Trinidad boys over 12 seasons.

"I think this time I'm officially done coaching," Dasko said. "It's time. Being an educator and coach has done so much for me and my family. I've been honored to work with so many great players. They taught me a lot. It's been a fun ride. My family and I have been truly blessed."

The succession question at Hoehne is now open. Dasko's career bridged eras in Las Animas County athletics, from the Trinidad boys program of the 1980s through the Lady Miners' sustained run in girls basketball, spanning four decades and three schools before he finally put down the clipboard for good.