The official Highline women’s basketball season kicks off Jan. 10 against the Pierce College Bulls, but the team is already deep into practicing and developing chemistry with one another.

On a very young team, comprised mainly of freshmen, it is impossible to predict how the season will turn out – the only expectation is that viewers will witness the unexpected and the season should be an exciting one.

To prepare for the season, the team has a grueling schedule, with players expected to partake in two-a-day and sometimes three-a-day practices. On top of that the student-athletes need to focus on being just that – students and athletes. Freshman Julie Hennis stated, “Challenges [I] face is really staying on top of school work between early classes and two to three practices a day is hard to adjust to.”

The common theme among the athletes on the team was the difficulty of transitioning from high school to college ball. “College is a lot more fast paced then [high school] was,” stated freshman ball-player Lilly DeTienne. 

Similarly freshman baller Alvina Meninick stated, “The transition from playing in high school to now playing college basketball it’s tough, but you really have to be committed to the team and really push yourself and always stay mentally prepared for whatever comes your way.”

With a team as young as this one, it is important to not only iron-out the on-court skills, but also the team chemistry. “Team chemistry is really important because if we didn’t have it we wouldn’t be able to play together,” said Meninick.

“The way we’re building stronger relationships with the team is having team dinners in the dorms and just hangout,” continued Meninick. “On the court we give each other some motivation by giving high fives and talking of defense and just helping each other out when we don’t know how to do any drill or about a play.”

As stated earlier it’s impossible to predict how a team such as this one will perform, though from watching them play in their last scrimmage one can certainly make a guess. The team has shown some maturity one would not expect from a team this young. They kept their composure despite some unruly elbows and comments from their opponents. They also had each other’s back the entire time, showing some chemistry and sisterhood that will be vital when the going gets tough. 

A good coach can teach a team how to shoot, rebound, and ball handle, but if the team starts to fall apart – if they don’t have each other’s back, if they start drawing technical fouls, or if they just lose their cool. Then that is a team where the expectation is failure. Right now my expectation is success.