Over the past couple of years, the girl’s basketball program has gone through many changes. New coaches and new players bring challenges to the program. This 2022-2023 season is going to be another season of change. They are bringing in a new coach by the name of Jason O’Neil. He used to be the boy’s JV coach so he has experience coaching at Lumen. Navigating through these changes can be tough and can affect the season. I talked to a couple of seniors who told me some of their goals for the season and also how they dealt with all of the changes in the past couple of years.                

          I asked Olivia Berner who has been a member of the basketball team since freshman year what some of the team goals were for this season. She said they really want to compete at practice and give it everything they got. They want to win every day in practice and challenge each other to get better. Along with getting better, they want to make sure they are developing good habits for not just basketball but also life. They want to leave the season with life lessons that will help them forever. If they want to win games they know they need to be relentless in everything they do. They play in a tough conference and know that they will have to give their all in every practice and every game to compete at a high level. Lastly, she said they will not make excuses. They are going to compete in every game and bring any challenges that come with it. 

         I talked with another Senior Brynn Cavanaugh about the challenges of changing coaches and how she deals with it. She says the best thing she has done with the coaching changes is “stay consistent no matter what.” She says the best thing to do once a new coach comes in is to focus. Focus on bettering yourself and also the new style and changes that the coach brings. It isn’t always easy to adapt to a new coach but Brynn feels like when she stays focused and consistent with what she knows things work out just fine. The girl’s season is starting up in the next couple of weeks so they are going to be able to show off all the hard work they have been putting in throughout the summer and fall. Even though they have had to deal with many changes they have the drive to be great. They won’t let these changes affect their season because they trust the program and everyone is invested into the team and getting better.