As they come to the last season of St. Robert basketball, the eighth grade girls are coming in strong.   This years team is coached by head coach Mr. McKeown, and assistance coach, Mr. Poorman.  So far this season they have been doing well and have given us playbooks. Our team this year is made up of eleven girls, one less from last year.  Those girls are: Amira Gray, Caroline Draver, Mallory Wittkowske, Mary Callanan, Gracie Stelter, Veronica Madell, Natalie Tomaszeski, Audrey Poorman, Maeve Devine, Cristina Bianchini, and Elizabeth Boyle.

One of our teammates, Maeve Devine, has her opinion on this season so far and how it is working with eleven girls. She is an experienced player from previous years with two split teams and one larger team.

“To be honest, with so many girls, it is definitely going to be more difficult. To learn plays, to do drills, and to overall focus during practice. Plus with all many different talent levels it can be very challenging. But I really feel that all the girls on our team have a very strong work ethic, so we will definitely get through the challenge. Plus we have a lot potential and talent within our team, so we just need to embrace our strengths rather than weaknesses.”

This is Maeve’s point of view on how we are as a whole team together this season and a grade.  “I think the team is doing really well this far. Everyone knows that 8th grade is chatty, so obviously a little bit of that is going on! But overall I feel like we have a good start, we just need to want to do well and focus.

“I think the players really like having a fresh new face as a coach, which would be Mr. McKeown. He has been coaching basketball for over 10 years, and has a lot of experience with 8th grade girls, and going to the Padre. We are also really happy to  also have Mr. Poorman back. Some girls had him as a coach in 6th grade, and he is an excellent coach who knows a great deal about basketball. So with these two coaches I have no doubt they will get us ready for the season and ultimately the Padre!”  says Maeve Devine from this year’s basketball team.

Amira Gray, another girl on our team, is an experienced player from last year when we had twelve girls and knows what it is like to have a large team. “I think the number of girls will affect the season in a good way because we have more people around us to make it more fun. This will help with team bonding because we are all together trying to work hard and hopefully be invited and win the the Padre. Playing time might be affected but it shouldn’t be an issue because our coaches are making it really fair.

“I think the team is getting back into a basketball mode and getting ready for our first game! We are for sure listening and trying our hardest. I think we all work together because we like to help each other and work on something with another person.

“I think we are really excited to have Coach McKeown. We all heard that he is a really great coach, and he is! We are also excited to have Mr. Poorman coaching us as well, he is also a really good coach. They have taught us so much already in these past few weeks such as man to man defense as well as catch and shoot shots.”

This year the 8th grade basketball team has people who have left, and two new girls, Veronica and Gracie.  “I think this will be a great season for us as a team and is a great way to have a stronger bond with everyone before we head off to high school.  We also have a new player, Veronica, and we all are really excited to be able to play with her this year.  We also miss some of the kids that aren’t playing this year and hope they can come and see some of our games.”  says Amira Gray from the 8th grade basketball team.

Overall, this years 8th grade basketball team will face challenges in learning new plays, listening to each other, getting along and most importantly, we will have fun!  We all hope that we can make it a great last season for all of us and St. Robert School.  As we come to our last season, let’s make it a great season filled with wins!