Foothill High School Girls Basketball Season Preview

As we head into this season, our biggest strength is our returning players. Senior Kalli Smith and Riley Sedlak are both coming off all-league seasons and have proven themselves as relentless scorers and strong team players. Their drive and competitiveness will be crucial for our success this year. We also have sophomore Kyndal Whitehouse who has shown great potential as a point guard and will be stepping up to fill that role for us. And with the addition of MJ O’Rorke, a transfer from Uprep, our team will have a strong balance of experience and new talent. In terms of team captains, we have a few players battling for that role. But for me, the qualities I look for in a captain are leadership, communication, and dedication. They need to be able to motivate their teammates and lead by example both on and off the court. All of our players have shown potential for this role and I’m excited to see who steps up in it. As a coach, my ultimate goal is to motivate my players to push themselves to their full potential. We spend a lot of time together as a team, and I believe that the closer we are off the court, the better it shows up on the court. This is why we have numerous team activities throughout the year and why I make an effort to get to know each of my players personally. By understanding their interests and motivations, I can better coach and motivate them during games. One of the biggest challenges we faced in preparing for this season was losing some key starters from last year’s team. Additionally, with the success of other sports at our school, we started the season further behind compared to previous years. However, this just means we have to work even harder to catch up and build our team chemistry. Our schedule is also quite tough, playing in Division 1 or 2 tournaments in the preseason and having strong competition in our league. But as always, we are up for the challenge and ready to take on any opponent. As a team, we understand the importance of the mental aspect of the game. We spend 3 to 5 hours a week on the mental side of the game, believing it is just as important as the physical aspect. We also have a nutritionist working with us to help balance the demands of travel and training and to teach our players how to properly fuel their bodies.