“I couldn’t wait for the basketball season to start,” Rachel Mehail said as the basketball season was right around the corner. Every year, students try out for our school basketball teams. Each year, the coaches put together teams depending on the skills each person has or doesn’t have. The 7th grade girls’ white team’s coach is Chloe Black; she has one child whose name is London. Coach Chloe is also an alumna from St. Robert’s Parish School. Colleen Eimers, a big contributor towards the athletic program, knew Chloe from coaching together a while back. Mrs. Eimers still had her contact information and told her that they were looking for a new coach for 7th grade girls basketball. She not only coaches basketball for St. Robert, but also coaches for a really good basketball club, Prestige. Prestige is a well-known basketball club for boys and girls.

“She is my favorite coach. She is always so caring and loving,” Skyler Koster told me.

A big part of practice that they all enjoy is having London, Chloe’s 4 year old child there to cheer them on. London is a fun and very energetic little girl. She loves to watch the team from the sidelines and attempt to do the same things that each player is doing. Some people may see London as a distraction, but the players see her as their own cheerleader; she doesn’t ever stop cheering for her mom or the team. During practice, Coach Chloe Black likes to keep the players in shape. She is constantly making them run, so they are not tired in the games. Conversations during practice will rise in volume and lead into running exercises.

“We are so familiar with the common word and stern tone of ‘Baseline’,” says Brigid Jurgens, another member of the team.

They do lots of fun, educational, and important drills to improve their skills in the basketball game. During the games, Coach never yells. She always calmly tells her team what they need to work on and how she can help them improve. The next time that they have practice, she tells her team what they need to fix up in the games, and they continue to work from there. A lot of times she has them work on techniques.

Some of the techniques she has them do are shooting, dribbling, boxing out, different  ways to run with the ball, and more. She teaches her team to be good sports and to not get over-confident. Coach thinks that it’s a great thing if each player isn’t arrogant, because she thinks that if a person thinks of herself as a hotshot,  then she won’t give her best effort.

Their team’s coach also says, “there is no shame in losing if you tried your best.”

“She is a great coach and always knows what she is doing. But, … she makes us run A LOT,” Skyler continues to tell me every time we talk about basketball.

So far, Coach Chloe Black has been one of the best things that has happened to the 7th grade girls white team for basketball from what I have heard. Coach Chloe works them to their limits, but never forces energy out of her players.

Hopefully, we can tune in and see what happens closer towards the end of the season for this up and coming great team.