Changes Happening to Girls Basketball Program

Changes+Happening+to+Girls+Basketball+Program

Catie Tang, Staff Member

Our girls basketball program, led by Coach Reuter, has been undergoing many exciting changes. We have recently hired a new varsity coach, Coach Elizabeth Reuter. Our JV coach, Coach Sullivan is also fairly new to San Marino. Coaches Reuter and Sullivan expressed their interests in joining San Marino. “I was looking for a school that really valued their academics. I also value being a part of a community that is tight knit,” Coach Reuter said. “I feel the same way. My wife and I had moved from Washington, DC to California. We lived here for about 7 months, researching schools, and decided San Marino would be the perfect fit,” Coach Sullivan added. In addition to the new coaching staff, the girls basketball team will also experience some change. “I hope to promote more interest in girls basketball. This year, we may have enough players to have three teams. I also want to help the girls develop their skills and be excited about being a part of something for many years. Hopefully, our program will be able to reach out to the community more to help raise awareness to what we do and have the girls in our program learn to be leaders and give back to the community,” Coach Reuter said. In previous years, girls basketball consisted of two teams. This year, it may be possible to add a third team based on the increase of interest in girls basketball. “It really is a numbers game. We currently have about 30 girls who are interested, so hopefully we will be able to add another team. Having three teams would be very beneficial,” stated Coach Reuter. “Last year, there were many players on the JV team who weren’t able to get enough playing time. It would be best to have a third team to give girls who may not have a lot of skills a chance to get a lot of playing time and improve,” Coach Sullivan said. The athletic department is currently working on a plan to possibly have athletes safely come back on campus but it will take a lot of brainstorming and the creation of new regulations. With the school year only beginning, our coaches have set many goals for this season. “My goals this year are to get a little better every day, even 1% better is still progress! I want to create a tight knit program that is supportive of each other, regardless of what level you are on. And of course, celebrate our on and off court accomplishments and make the most of our time together,” Coach Reuter said. “As the JV coach, my goals are a little different than coach Reuter. My job is to get girls ready to play varsity basketball. My goal every year will be to make the JV an extension of the Varsity. To let coach Reuter have the ability to take any JV player and plug them into her varsity squad and not miss a beat. We have seen this in years past. There are injuries, flu outbreaks, vacations etc. Coach Reuter needs to be able to bring 12 varsity level basketball players to every game. I hope to accomplish this while providing a safe and fun atmosphere on the JV squad. And hopefully find one or two girls who hadn’t thought about basketball as a sport, to all of a sudden get the call up from Coach Reuter,” Coach Sullivan concluded. The girls basketball program is still accepting any girl who is interested. If interested, please email Coach Reuter [email protected] or Coach Sullivan [email protected].