Continuing to perform

Preseason workouts move during construction of performance center, but girls basketball team keeps working

Members+of+the+girls+basketball+program+work+out+in+the+new+workout+facility+during+an+early+morning+workout.+The+team+was+forced+to+move+workouts+while+the+center+was+being+created+but+didnt+see+a+decline+in+attendance%2C+despite+cramped+conditions+in+the+temporary+workout+site.

Hayley Leake

Members of the girls basketball program work out in the new workout facility during an early morning workout. The team was forced to move workouts while the center was being created but didn’t see a decline in attendance, despite cramped conditions in the temporary workout site.

The girls basketball team has been training in a series of different ways this last month. With the weight room being redone here at school, the team has had to overcome some obstacles in their preseason workouts, but they haven’t let that stop their drive.

Alum Pierre Desir donated $185,000 to the Performance Center to give back to the high school that gave him so much. For two weeks, the girls have had to adapt to life without their normal weight room. Through working in different spaces and getting a different kind of elite workout in, the girls managed to continue their preseason growth waiting for the new and beautiful weight room to be complete.

“We have had to do many different kinds of workouts over the last couple of weeks. We focussed more on agility and more specialized kinds of work in the time we had to wait. The team would work inside Radigan’s classroom as well as the small gym multiple times a week so that workouts could continue,” freshman Macy Pearson said.

Coach Malach Radigan moved as much of the equipment as he could into his classroom so that the girls could still life weights three mornings a week. His room was filled with benches and weights with the intention to keep his teams strong. Multiple agility-based workouts took place in the gym as the girls split into groups and always kept themselves busy with different kinds of work.

“You would think that the attendance would have gone down, but the same amount of girls showed up every morning looking to work and get better than they were the last time,” sophomore Kilee Webster said.

It has always been very important to the program that people show up and keep a good attitude. Attendance is one of the most important things for the girls basketball program. With six workouts per week, and three of them being at six in the morning, it takes extreme commitment. The girls who have been there all of the preseason continued to show up every day to better themselves and others.

“I have seen the way those girls work together. It is one of the most family types of environments I’ve seen here at school. Watching them put in that work every day is the reason I want to manage the team. Those girls have an amazing attitude no matter the obstacles they have to face,” sophomore Mia Williams said.

Williams has multiple friends on the basketball team, and she knows the attitude that those girls have. The game is their life, and they will put in any amount of work necessary to go further with the sport. Basketball is full of passion and love, and the program we have here at school thinks of themselves as nothing less than a family.

“Every workout or practice, no matter the time of day, has more energy than anything I have ever known. All of the girls work to hype each other up and push everyone as far as they can go. We all want the best for each other. Basketball is my passion, and I could have never expected to come into this program with such open arms. That’s the kind of program this is. Nothing stops us,” Pearson said.

Every day, nearly twenty or more girls show up to the workouts with any coach they have, and they put in endless work. No matter if the practice is early in the morning or late at night, they not only attend, they bring energy and noise that other people cannot begin to fathom.

“Playing a fall sport is amazing, but I always miss the environment that basketball has and the people I’m surrounded with. Those girls love the team as much as they love the game. Everyone goes in there and immediately becomes more than a team. The people I’ve met on the team I’ll have forever, and I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to be involved with this program,” junior Sara Zelei said.

Through the weight room being redone, and the obstacles the ladies have faced, they have grown in so many ways. They now understand the kind of things that they can get through when they’re together as a team. Over the last three weeks, they have grown as players, and as teammates. Now that the Performance Center is complete, they have a new facility to reward the level of work that they have put in. The time it was being redone didn’t slow them down, it only increased their connection to the game.