Rebuilding the Foundation

By: Breana Hamilton 

The Girl’s Basketball team is starting fresh in the 23-24 season. They are building a new foundation with an almost entirely new coaching staff and only a few players returning from the previous season. 

But with the previous coaches unable to return, there was no shortage of willing helpers to keep the team going. 

“It’s my obligation as a coach [to help] when a team needs a coach or a coach asks me to help,” said assistant coach A.J. Neace. “I feel it’s my job to help out the kids anyway I can.” 

When a new coaching staff comes in for a team, there can be the need for time for players to get comfortable with coaching styles, strategies, and expectations. It can be hard for athletes to adjust to the new ways of doing things, especially if they were used to the previous coaching staff’s methods. But this season seemed to have little of that. 

“We were welcomed with open arms and open minds,” said assistant coach Jessica McCuen. “They are transitioning well and all seem to be adapting to the new lingo, new drills and new ideas.” 

But having a new coaching staff can also give players a fresh perspective on the game. Coaches might introduce new plays and techniques that the team hadn’t used before. This can open up new opportunities for the team to improve their skills and expand their understanding of the game. The new coaches might also have different perspectives that can help players see the game from a whole new angle. 

“With the coaching staff being new this year, I expect a new look on the game of basketball,” said senior Grace Sieber. 

However, besides adapting to a new staff, this year’s team also is adapting to a mostly new team of basketball players. Having two major changes like this can send a team in a spiral as players have to adjust to each other’s strategies and playing style. Building trust with your teammates, especially if you’ve been playing with a different group, takes time. 

“As a senior who has been used to playing with an older team, who is now playing with a young team, I expect everyone to put in all effort at all times and understand mistakes will happen, but we need to learn from them,” said senior Grace Sieber.