海角视频

The midpoint of an athletic team鈥檚 building season is a kind of like looking at half a glass of water鈥攜ou have to decide how you want to look at it. Fortunately, PUC鈥檚 Pioneers women鈥檚 basketball is a team full of hard-working optimists.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a winning record,鈥� admits forward Vanessa Felder. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e getting to the point where we know each other鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses and we鈥檙e pushing forward.鈥�

Felder, a junior, is one of only two upperclassmen on this year鈥檚 squad. The rest are sophomores who have only been playing together since last season. It鈥檚 been the team鈥檚 biggest challenge this year as they face more experienced opponents in the California Pacific conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate 海角视频.

鈥淓verybody that we recruit knows that we鈥檙e very young; we鈥檙e building toward the future,鈥� says assistant coach Doug Wilson. 鈥淏ut this year we鈥檝e won as many games as they have in the past four years. So the morale really is good.鈥�

This goal of continual improvement is what keeps the women motivated on the court. But during this building year, the coaches and the players are also working on another critical value off the court: building a team that operates as a family. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the points of emphasis that we have in our program,鈥� says Wilson. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you鈥檙e going to find a closer bunch of kids that truly fight for each other and care about each other.鈥�

鈥淲e do a lot of extracurricular stuff where we get to do everything together,鈥� says sophomore forward Devin Tinny, 鈥渁nd we find more in common with each other than we ever thought we could.鈥�

That includes elaborate events like team camping trips and group philanthropic opportunities. During the conference preseason, the women took time out during a weekend tournament in Southern California to visit with residents at a nearby retirement home鈥攁n experience that still brings a smile to the players鈥� faces three months later.

But more regularly, that bond is formed in the women鈥檚 day-to-day interactions. 鈥淲e hang out so much off the court,鈥� says sophomore center Erin Treux. 鈥淎fter games and practices we go out to eat together鈥攋ust doing stuff where we can spend time together because we all get along.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e like sisters,鈥� adds freshman guard Gabby Alvero.

In addition to the sense of family that has developed among the players, they鈥檝e also noticed a benefit on the court. 鈥淵ou get used to people鈥檚 tendencies when you鈥檙e on the court with them,鈥� says Treux, a sentiment matched by several other women on the team.

The steady improvement is not the only thing that gives the team hope for the future. According to Wilson, the coaches have ramped up the team鈥檚 scouting efforts this year. 鈥淲e have probably 30-40 kids that we鈥檙e currently recruiting,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at high schools, academies, Christian schools, public schools, everywhere.鈥�

In addition, the coaches tentatively hope to have a partial athletic scholarship available to offer to those players in the near future. 鈥淲e have students that are so busy with just the academic side that when you add their basketball commitment they don鈥檛 have a lot of time to work,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 feel like a scholarship would be paying them for their role as ambassadors and leaders on and off this campus.鈥�

The team has ambitious goals for the rest of this season and the next. 鈥淲e want to be one of the top three teams in the league,鈥� says Wilson. Others are even more specific and more ambitious. 鈥淚 really want to go undefeated in the league next year,鈥� says Treux.

They may be ambitious goals, but with everything they鈥檙e seeing and doing on and off the court, the Pioneer women have reason to hope for the future. 鈥淲e see not how it is, but how it will be,鈥� says the team鈥檚 only senior, center Claudia Balderas. She, like the rest of the team, is expecting to see the second half of this season very full.