New season. New coach. New team.
The Lady Eagles varsity basketball team has begun this season with their fourth new coach in four years, Rusty Rogers, and seven new players, making them no stranger to change.
“I feel like all of us have just sort of adapted to having a new coach every year,” said Tianna Farmer, senior.
Rogers, with 29 years of head coaching under his belt, has the girls training hard for the games and tournaments to come, especially their first home game on Dec. 3 at 7pm, versus Mountain Ridge.
“One of our strengths is depth, therefore we expect to play a lot of people each game,” Rogers said. “And we feel we can play at a fast pace.”
The girls have taken a quick liking to their new coach and are excited for his plans this season.
“I really like him,” said Emma Wood, senior. “It’s been hard every year because we don’t know what to expect, but he seems like a lot of fun and he knows what he’s doing.”
Wood is one of six players who have been moved up from last year’s junior varsity team. Along with Farmer and four other girls who played on varsity last year, this season’s team also includes one freshman, Maddie Loos.
With such a diverse age-group, the varsity girls have been working on bonding all three teams to make the whole program more family-like.
“I really just want to have fun and connect more with the team,” Wood said. “And I want to do more with the other teams so we can put forth a good program.”
JV
This year’s JV team consists of twelve players, three of which are juniors and nine of which are sophomores. Led by coach Aaron Rode, the JV girls have been practicing with determination, and are putting in the same effort as the varsity team in order to have a successful season.
“I feel like we have a little ways to go,” said Ashley Drapeau, sophomore. “But we’ll definitely pull through this season.”
Freshmen
The freshmen girls team is also expecting a good season, and has been training hard with its head coach, Katie Verschoor. Their team includes ten girls, each of them demonstrating a strong-will to improve and grow in the sport.
“I think we definitely need a lot of practice,” said Cierra Williams, freshman. “But everyone has something that they’re good at. I believe in us.”
