The Lady Bison traded volleyballs and bumps for basketballs and free throws this week after the Ladies wrapped up their volleyball season with away games in Elkhart. Less than 24 hours later, they were hitting the court with coaches Churck Winkelman and Avie McKnight. The lessons started right away. When Coach Wink wasn’t happy with the hustle getting out on the court, the players found themselves lining up for a running drill.  

 A few minutes later, it happened again: a directive to put their balls along the wall and line up.  

 “What just happened?” Wink asked. A few breathless answers from the girls and he made sure they all knew. “You walked. You cannot walk on this court. You have to go from that drill and sprint and get to the next thing.” 

There was no grumbling from the girls, though. If Coach Wink said line up and run, they lined up and ran. It might have been a rough start to the official practice season, but the girls made it clear that they were there for whatever the coaches threw their way if it helped them to grow as a team. 

“My goals for the season are pretty basic,” senior Molly Hirsch said. “I want to improve our record and make it a good season this year.” 

Coach Wink made it clear while talking to the girls that their win/loss record wasn’t the end game. Growing the team, and more importantly, the program, comes first. He knows that for that, the girls need to stay focused and work together. And the girls know there are challenges that they face. 

“The biggest challenge this year is going to be our mentality,” junior Kaylee Rodriguez said. “We have to be positive.” 

Attitudes and leadership were the focus of much of the chatter of the first practice, with lessons on what to do on the court and why peppered in. But the girls know that all of it is important to their success. 

“Leadership is going to be really important,” sophomore Victoria Brooks said. “It’s important so that the team stays together and so we stay on track with our goals.” 

So what keeps these girls coming to practice despite the running drills and hard work? Love of the game, and love of their teammates. Freshman Yuliana Porras said she’s excited about playing high school basketball, even though she knows it’s going to be different than previous leagues. 

“I’m looking forward to playing with my teammates I played with before in Little Dribblers,” she said. “There’s more work you have to put in, and more effort.” 

As the team wrapped up a morning practice, their coach praised the effort and improvement he was seeing already and reminded the girls that while their goals were important, knowing how to make those goals happen was key. Wink finished morning practice with a reminder that grades were important and that they were all student-athletes.  

“They put student before athlete for a reason,” Wink said. “Take care of stuff in the classroom.” 

On the court and off, the Lady Bison are ready to pour their efforts into making this season the best one yet and improving themselves, their team, and the program as a whole.