Although this is a season like no other, there is  always an opportunity for a new beginning. SPF Girls Basketball will start their shortened season at home on Jan. 26, 2021 against Governor Livingston and while fans will not be able to watch the game in person, it will be live streamed on the Raider News YouTube page.

Coach Ryan McKenna spoke a lot about this upcoming season and how it will affect his players. 

“Well, this will be a very trying season to play through the pandemic,” McKenna said. “But, everyone on the team is sacrificing a great deal to play and we anticipate having a great time no matter how many games we get to play.” 

Despite the pandemic, McKenna talked about the team’s goals for the upcoming season and how they can look for ways to improve from last season’s disappointing 9-17 record.

“I think we are going to make a big jump this season in terms of on court success,” McKenna said. “We have the entire team back from last year and we added 3 new players. Amanda Baylock is a freshman point guard for us, senior Emily Muench has come back from an injury last year, and junior Gabby Palermo transferred to us from Dayton. I think we are much more poised to win this year than last year, which was a great learning experience for our young team.”

There are many expectations that McKenna looks for in the newcomers for this season. 

“I expect them to work hard, play for their team and for themselves,” Mckenna said. “They made Varsity for a reason so I expect that they will have confidence that they can perform at a high level.”

McKenna also mentioned the struggles the team faced last season and how they plan on overcoming them. 

“Mostly, I think we struggled because we were such a young team,” McKenna said. “Our experience is going to help us on both sides of the court. Knowing  more than you did before is half the battle.” 

Senior captains Madison StaRosa and Ryann Wall also talked about how they plan on uniting this team during these uncertain times and the expectations they have for the team.

“Something Ryann and I can do to unite the team and have the best last season is to just have fun during practices and in games,” StaRosa said. “We also remind the team every now and then to remember to stay safe and be smart with their actions on and off of the court because their decisions don’t only affect themselves but the rest of the team.”

“I have pretty high expectations for this upcoming season,” Wall said.  “Except for 3 newer players, all of our girls are varsity returners from last year. Because we will have two years of developing our skills, plays, and offenses, we can be really competitive and quick on the court.” 

Due to COVID-19, there may not be the same number of games as in previous seasons. Therefore, every win is essential.