Last season, the Hancock girl’s basketball team barely had enough players to fill the court, with just six players on the roster. Despite few players, the Hancock girls played through adversity during the season. But this season, the team has doubled in size from six players to twelve players.
Last year, the team had so few players that it struggled to keep up with injuries and foul trouble. Now, with more players to rotate in and out, it has been much easier. Even with the roster change, the girls’ determination to win remains unchanged; they are working hard to keep themselves in the game and not give up, even with tough competition.
Head coach Laura Werner expressed that the most exciting part of having a larger roster is the increased opportunities for growth and instruction during practices.
“The most exciting part about having more players on the team is the opportunity for Coach Jenny Cluts and me to provide more instruction during practice,” Werner said. “With limited players, we often had to step in and fill roles during drills, with numbers, we can focus on observing and instructing. Also, since we are a young team, having a larger roster helps us develop the program and witness improvements.”
Team caption Justice Silver (11) shared her opinion on the benefits of having a larger roster this season.
“I feel like having more players on the team is great because everybody can get a chance to see how our plays at practice transition onto the court,” Silver said. “More people on the court means that we have enough people to sub in and out if the starters need a breather, water, or are injured.”
However, managing a bigger team also comes with its challenges, like playing time and understanding how everyone gets along with one another.
“The new challenges are managing more personalities and seeing how everyone meshes together,” she said. Although our numbers have increased, we still are not large enough to have a full JV team and a full varsity team, so balancing playing time while trying to put our best opportunity to win out on the court is a challenge.
Despite the challenges, having more players has made drills smooth, even though they take longer to complete.
“It has been easier to get through drills, however, drills are taking longer because you want everyone to get opportunities to work on the skills we are practicing. More repetitions are required for this,” said Werner.
One big relief head coach Werner has this year has been having enough players to avoid the constant pressure of injury or foul trouble.
“It is nice to have options if someone is in foul trouble, or just not having their best game. At times last year during the second semester, we were one injury away from our season being over, or us missing a bunch of games. And with a lack of subs, it was a grind for the girls playing,” she states.
Although having more players, Silver said that there is still some work she thinks has to be done as most of the players are new to the game.
“While we are trying to become a better team, I wouldn’t say we are there just yet. Most of our players are either new to basketball or haven’t played at the high school level. They are still learning and improving,” said Silver.
Despite being a young team, the Hancock Girls are already showing signs of improvement.
“We graduated the majority of our points last year, so there are some growing pains so far this year,” Werner said. “People are being asked to step into roles that they might not have had to take last year. We are a very young team, with only two upperclassmen with experience, so we are seeing improvements within the team every day. I am excited to see how the season plays out and see the growth that everyone makes.”
