A team with unmotivated players, that struggles with chemistry, that just can’t climb the ranks. When building a sports team, the factors for success and failure are endless. No matter the situation, it can always be molded into something greater.
While having skilled players is important for a strong team, chemistry is what really shines. Understanding your teammates’ playstyles, strengths, and what motivates them can make all the difference on the court.
For the varsity girls basketball team, this just doesn’t happen during the school season. Many of the players also partake in a local club team, the Valley Tropics. While club participation isn’t uncommon, having so many teammates on both rosters has shaped how the group plays together.
Junior Lola Chamberlain has been playing with the Valley Tropics since her freshman year, along with some of her teammates. Since then, she has spent a lot of time playing with the same group of girls.
“We have a really good bond,” Chamberlain said. “We’re a tight-knit group, we have lots of fun.”
Playing together for so long has created familiarity, allowing them to fall back on one another and use each other’s strengths. “It helps us connect more when we’re playing a tight game,” Chamberlain said. “We know everybody’s playing style. What they feel comfortable doing, and what they don’t feel comfortable doing.”
“Our club and our high school are very similar,” junior Payton Starwalt said. Payton Starwalt’s father, Ryan Starwalt, runs the club team, so Payton Starwalt has been on the team since it first started around five years ago. “We run similar plays and types of offense, so it’s been good for us to get in the flow early,” Starwalt said.
Senior Kate Kurth joined the team in the spring of her sophomore year and noticed the differences between club and school basketball.
“[Club and school,] it’s all just basketball, but it’s such a different environment,” Kurth said. “You go to tournaments, and you travel, and you spend so much time together. It makes us all really close.”
The time spent together, both on the school team and the club team, turns into mutual trust on the court.
“You learn what people’s strengths are, and you learn how to work as a team and rely on each other,” Kurth said. “There’s that connection, you know where to find people on the court.”
Junior Natalie Tidwell, another player on both teams, shares the same idea. “We read each other’s minds,” Tidwell said. Having the ability to silently understand your teammates is something that teams could spend seasons building; these girls have it ingrained already. “Because we’re used to each other, we don’t need a lot of communication,” Tidwell said.
Alongside improving team chemistry, the club experience has also helped push the players individually.
“Sports are all about hard work. You can be really good, but if you don’t put the time in, you’re never gonna go far,” Tidwell said. Tidwell sees her personal growth through her hard work put into increasing her skills. “By doing the late-night practices and early morning lifts, you get stronger.” Chamberlain also shares this sentiment. “It’s a really good program for developing your skills,” Chamberlain said. “I’ve grown exponentially since being part of it.”
Kurth learned to view mistakes differently. Not as a setback, but simply as an experience. “I’ve learned to value mistakes, like it’s not a detriment to who you are,” Kurth said. “It’s not a bad thing either, it’s just [part] of learning.”
While participating in both teams leads to lots of bonding time and strengthened friendships, what’s important is how their combined efforts show. “We put all of our effort into one team, and my dad puts all of his effort into one team,” Payton Starwalt said. The team wouldn’t be where it is without the effort of every player and coach. “It’s super cool to see how it’s grown over the last few years.”
Having these shared experiences, these setbacks, the success, it all culminates in one thing: trust. Having the trust that teammates will be where they’re supposed to be, or that they’ll show up when assistance is needed. The skillset is what may set a team up, but trust is what keeps them standing.
