By Hannah Chadwick
Swoosh, nothing but net. The Lady Knights on the basketball team know what this sounds like after starting their winter season. After the AIA reinstated winter sports, the ladies have been working hard and have already had a few games! While having a smaller team than usual and the pandemic requiring some adjustments, the ladies rose to the challenge and are now just excited to see how their season progresses!
As some people may know, on Jan. 8 every winter athlete faced some hard news. Winter sports had been cancelled and the games could no longer occur. However, due to a protest, four days later the AIA decided to revote and announced that winter sports were reinstated a few hours later! For the Lady Knights basketball team, this meant their season was back on! Junior Maeve Jastrzebski comments, “Once the season was reinstated I was shocked because I had thought that the cancellation was final. I was so happy and excited because the seniors got a chance at a season and all of the hard work that our team put into practice was not a waste!”
The ladies are so excited to have a season, however, even with a season, there are still challenges. Due to the pandemic, a portion of the team did not return this year and the ladies have small numbers. Sophomore Sofie Youngs explains, “There’s been a lot of changes this year with Covid. We’re missing players who would normally be playing so our team dynamic had to change a bit. We’ve had to adapt to having a small team and getting used to playing a lot without a break.”
This has certainly been a challenge for the team, however, they are working through it and the ladies are excited to see their progress at the end of the season. After coming close in a few games the ladies are starting to learn their team’s dynamic and getting into their rhythm. Senior Maya Kostov says, “We are still trying to figure out the dynamics of the team and I think our defense is pretty solid considering our small team. I’m super excited for the season and getting to play with amazing girls who work their hardest every day and never give up.” While the ladies may still be starting off, their determination and hard work is sure to grant them success.
Now the team may be small, but the ladies are not all on their own this season. They have two coaches this year. Coach McClary is their head coach and Coach Gordon is their assistant coach. The coaches have helped the team a lot this year and Maeve explains, “I think the coaches are doing great this year. Due to our small numbers we have had a lot of one-on-one practice and overall I think all the girls’ skills have gotten better. I really like how positive they are even with our struggles in learning where we all fit best on the court and with the pandemic situation.”
The coaches quickly adapted to this year’s new dynamic and have assisted every player immensely. Sofie agrees with Maeve and says, “My coaches have been really good this year and they have done a really good job conditioning us to play bigger teams. They are also very encouraging and understanding about the limitations Covid has placed on our basketball season.” The ladies love their coaches and appreciate how they train them for their season and could not work through this year’s season without them!
After many challenges and lots of hard work the team is officially in the middle of their season and with their hard work and incredible coaching staff they are sure to do great things! Good luck Lady Knights!
