Girls varsity basketball’s dedication to helping the community learn their sport nurtures a new generation of players who come to the court with a positive and determined attitude.
The girls basketball team practices daily and on Fridays hosts a clinic to teach young girls from all over how to play basketball.
Basketball is a very time-consuming sport that requires effort and patience to see improvement. The secret to success is consistency. But what makes the players show up to practice every day? Simple: their team.
“After my freshman year, I was about to quit, I wanted to drop off. But then Coach Will Burr came, my new teammates came and we completely changed the program,” senior Ella Broms said. “My favorite thing about basketball is my team … Basketball is a lot of fun. It is a big time commitment. You’ll find the balance eventually and it’s a great experience.”
A core part of the girls varsity basketball team are their role models on the team, like assistant varsity coach Delaney West, who is also the head coach for girls JV basketball.
“Basketball changed my life and made me who I am today,” West said. “Working with the players and helping them become better people through basketball and just being around their energy is pretty much the best thing I get to do every day. I have been doing this for 14 years.”
West’s advice to incoming players would be to see both sides of the coin—take the good with the bad. Develop a mindset that highlights your strengths as well as your weaknesses.
“You have to work through that adversity and still find the silver lining,” West said. “Learn things from those opportunities, so as long as you’re always finding the good you will also be able to handle the bad.”
Dedication and persistence play a big part in the success of girls varsity basketball. The team’s hard work has paid off after winning CIF championships for the past two years.
“Put in the time and effort because everyone wants to do it but not everyone can be good at it,” junior Delaney White said.
Winning is only half of the story. Making lasting friendships and fun memories is an indisputable part of team culture.
“I’m looking forward to the memories I’ll make with the team and ultimately achieving our goals and hopefully winning CIF this year,” freshman Ava Rogerson said. “It’s such a fun team sport, it builds connections and it gives you a lot of life lessons. I love the creativity that you have within basketball.”
