With their season coming to a close, Kaylee St. Pierre, Asiana Koonkaew, and Kaila Begaye have at least two things in common: they are all 7th graders who had never played basketball for a team before.

Kaylee St.Pierre is on Mr. Gallaher’s team and has been playing basketball for a year. She says her season has been good and stressful, which can happen to almost anyone in their first year or even their fifteenth. She said her team is good, but that there is room for improvement in the communication area. Any good basketball player notices and points out where her team can improve, which shows in her skill level and effort. She also believes that basketball helped her meet new people, including eighth graders.

Asiana Koonkaew is also a seventh grader at Valley Middle School. She plays on Ms. Erickson’s team and has enjoyed her first season. Something her team does exceptionally well is talking to each other which you can witness at their final game of the season. Something about Ms. Erickson is that she pushed her players to their limits, which really just gets them ready for a game. This is a trait in many of the greatest coaches and will help these players in the long run. Asiana found her first year to be very enjoyable, especially with all the new skills that she has been learning after school every day from 2:50 pm to about 4:50 pm.

Kaila Begaye was on Ms. Latham’s team. Something Kaila had to say about Ms. Latham is that she is so nice and always stays positive, even in stressful parts of her games. Ms. Latham also pushes her players like both of the other coaches to create a better working environment for the seventh and eighth graders. Kaila enjoys playing in her games as point, and she likes shooting the ball from farther away. Something her team could work on is defense, like boxing out and getting rebounds, but it was a lot better the last game. “I’ve had a very delightful season,” she said.

For all of the sixth graders reading this article, it is good to know that you can try for one of the teams next year. If you or someone you know wants to try a new sport or even enjoy basketball, this will be a good match for anyone. As the year progresses, you and everyone else will notice your improvement, no matter what team you’re on. An enjoyable season is an enjoyable season.