The girls’ basketball team has come together to make not just a team, but a family that is willing to stay together and go far this season. They have their goals and they have built themselves up. For this season they are ready to come back stronger than ever and outshine every other team that they are faced with in a very special way.
The coach of the girls’ basketball team, Mark Hines, is in his 16th year of coaching but this is his third year at Woodbridge Senior High School. Coach Hines states that he has set up “a team where the girls treat each other as family”. And with having athletes he makes sure that they stay in a good headspace to be able to play by “staying positive and giving them positive feedback.” He explains that it works well to keep the girls hyped during the games.
This year the girls are ready to show all the other girls’ basketball teams in the district what they have. Milo Ani] and Joidan Randolph both agree that the team has “great chemistry and works well together.” Chemistry being one of the most important things to have with a team shows that the girls are going to be successful. Elawnie Wilkins especially believes that “the team is a family.” They never have to worry about not having friends because they have each other. The girls are able to come together to talk about anything, not just the game. For her and others, that is the best part of playing basketball this season.
All sports contain a physical and mental side but for most sports, there is a determining factor on which aspect is “more” important when it comes to playing the game. With the sport of basketball, it is “easy to overcome the physical” says junior, Elawnie Wilkins. However, basketball is a sport that relies heavily on the mental side. Junior, Kadijah Kabi states that “if you’re not focused it can ruin the game and there can be multiple bad games.” If your mindset is good, then rest assured you will play well.
The girls fully agreed that their main goal this season is to make it up to regional games and they are fully sure that they can make it that far. I believe that this will turn out to be a beautiful season for the Woodbridge High School Girls Basketball team. They trust each other and know how to read each other. Skill alone will only get you so far, but with a team as bonded, as the WSHS team along with their skills, they are making it far this season and very little will be able to stop them.