Post-COVID EHHS sports have seen a decrease in interest, but the EHHS girls’ basketball team is ready for the season. Junior, Gabby Gaetano said, “The break due to COVID that stopped the team from being able to do camps and clinics put a slower jump on the team.” The Girls’ Basketball Coach, Mr. Mike Archambault, said, “COVID shut kids down and made them less involved in sports. Although numbers have gone up slightly, they haven’t recovered in any sport since Corona. The biggest change is getting kids back into the routine of off-season training.” He shared that the team has been getting back to normal by conditioning in the weight room and playing summer and fall leagues. They have also worked on team get-togethers to bond. Even though kids aren’t as interested in sports, the players that are on the girls’ basketball team have been preparing for the season for a long time. Many of the players on the team do AAU during the offseason, which has private coaches, lots of traveling, and games during the spring, summer, and sometimes fall. Senior Captain, Gianna Castellano, said, “AAU programs help a lot because it keeps you playing all the time all year, so you are used to it and not rusty when the season starts.” Players also get ready for the season by conditioning in the weight room 1-2 days a week from April to Thanksgiving.
The current players get younger athletes involved so the younger athletes will join the team when they get to high school by mentoring through camps and clinics. Gianna said, “We did a week-long camp over the summer for third to eighth graders from 9-2 every day that got kids that stopped playing because of COVID more interested and starting to like playing again.” The EHHS players ran drills with the younger players and gave them a chance to see what it would be like to be on a high school team. Gabby said, “When the younger players see us play they are more interested in being on the team because they see our chemistry and how close we are. We are one big family, not just a team and they want to be a part of that.” There was also a camp over April break run by the coach and volunteer high school players which built connections between current and younger players.
To get prepared for the season, the players do a lot of conditioning like running and strength training to build endurance “so [they] can last the whole game without getting too tired,” Gianna said. Coach Archambault prefers sprint work in between drills at the beginning of the season to ensure all players are in shape and ready for any situation in their games. They do all of this running so they can build their stamina and be faster than other teams so they can beat people up the court.
Many of the players on the team are very close, especially because they have been playing AAU together since they were little. Gabby said, “It is easier to play with people you are closer with since there is strong chemistry. Our chemistry together built quickly since we are with each other all the time.”
Current players get other people interested in joining basketball by talking to people and their friends about joining and by senior captains recruiting people. They also post on social media, like Twitter, and have pictures on the school tv to promote for people to join or when tryouts were.
