Much in the way a phoenix rises from the ashes, Seabury’s high school girls’ basketball team has fought back from non-existence last year to a fiery team of ten strong this year.
The team, made up of four seniors, three sophomores and three freshmen, has attracted both experienced players and newcomers alike. One of the team’s most experienced members, freshman Stella Huebner, says, “[Basketball is] my favorite sport, and I love it so much, and it’s really helped me grow as a person. And I think this year it will be fun to get to know everybody as a team.”
Senior Margaret Mulhern also illuminates how meaningful this rebuild is, saying, “Completing my senior season is just really special for me because I really want to leave a legacy of this basketball team … I really want the program to continue on.”
Freshman Tessa Vancil echoes this sentiment, saying, “A lot of girls are really passionate about basketball, like me … so I’m just glad that we have it this year because it’s a way to make friends [and] it’s a way to build community.”
Togetherness is definitely a value that the team plans to embrace this year. Mulhern articulates this, saying, “I’m really excited to build a community on the court … I really want to have passing down and dribbling down. We’ve never really had plays before … It’s usually just a numbers game, so now that we have the numbers, incorporating plays [will be great] … That communication on the court is really special.”
Senior Josie Kim shares a similar perspective, saying, “The mindset that I’m going to try and champion is effort … Yeah, I’m definitely going to motivate everyone to just continue to give 100% effort, even if we’re not seeing necessarily the results that we want to see, as well as just hustle and a growth mindset. Obviously, we’re kind of starting from ground zero this season, so I’m just going to continue to try and aim for better.”
Athletics Director Brian Rios has a mindset akin to this one for the team: “My philosophy has never been to completely always go out to win. I truly believe that if a team can learn to compete, if a team can stick together and they can communicate and they can build on each other and build the confidence … within themselves and within the team, the wins will come naturally … Successful teams, teams that win, build all that stuff first; they build that foundation of confidence and teamwork … and then the wins just come in. And so I’m hoping that this team can learn to be confident in themselves and as a team and [they can] compete and have some pride in what they’re doing,” he says.
As Rios suggests, the team is more than ready to support each other. Vancil says that the mindset she plans to bring is “A supportive one, because … it’s a lot of girls’ first year on this team, and I’m really glad that they decided to play this year. I think hyping people up definitely helps build confidence. And so I’m gonna try to use my energy [to help my teammates] play the best they can.”
Similarly, Mulhern describes her mindset as very open, saying, “I know that we have a lot of new players, and so all of our skill levels and what we’re good at might differ a lot, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a lot of successes. And I think setting ourselves up for success might not look like winning every game, but it is going to look like showing up for each other and really supporting each other wherever we’re at.”
Kim also expresses how powerful it is to have both a boys’ and girls’ team: “I don’t think that we can be considered completely equal as men and women until every opportunity is the same for all of us. So even though this is quite a small step, actually, within our community, it’s a big step, because there’s so much focus on the basketball programs, so I think just creating those equal opportunities [is valuable],” she says.
The team is certainly excited to hit the court and show Seabury what they can do. Mulhern says, “I think that this year my big hope for the team is that we’ll show the Seabury community how awesome basketball is and that women can play it too.”
Rios also articulates the value of this team’s legacy, saying, “As the Athletics Director, [I] want to see sports thrive at this school, and I want to be able to give equal opportunity to both boys’ and girls’ teams. And so seeing … a group of girls rally back together to start up a team and hopefully leave a legacy at this school is meaningful to me, and it makes me happy.”
