Cheering the team on!

This blog finds me at the start of another season, but this time from a very different perspective. Usually at this point in the year my body’s dying from getting in great court shape, my brain’s overwhelmed with all the plays, and emotionally I’m a mixture of anxious, nervous, and excited.

This year, as a senior and unfortunately, injured, I’m in a little different state. My body is sore but in completely different ways. The physical therapy I do for about four hours a week makes the tiniest of muscles I never knew I had ache. Instead of my hamstrings, quads or calves killing me, the tiny muscle that flexes my second toe is sore.

Fortunately my brain isn’t quite as tired from preseason. After three years, the plays are pretty much engrained forever. I’m hoping that remains the case when I’m back on the court. Something tells me Tara will not cut me any slack if I mess up a play, even if I haven’t been running them.

From an emotional standpoint, I’m extremely excited about this season and anxious to get back out there. I can’t wait to see this team reach its potential. We have great depth and continue to have a lot of the intangibles that made us so successful last year such as toughness and team chemistry.

It’s weird watching everything from the sidelines in that I see things I never realized when I’m out there. I find myself learning from the coaching staff, not in the obvious ways, but watching things such as the sequence of drills, and breakdowns for guards and posts. I see more of the background work and concepts that when I’m out there are just drills. The bigger picture is a lot more apparent when you take a step away.

I’m trying to make the most of my experience on the sideline by learning from Tara about how she coaches. I think I would enjoy coaching as a hobby down the line so I’ve been trying to absorb as much as I can.

From Coach Morgan’s perspective, the team is coming together really nicely. I’m so proud of how well the freshmen especially performed in the exhibition against Chico State. It’s amazing how well they’ve adjusted. I just remember my first week of practice my freshman year I was concentrating so hard on remembering where I was supposed to be in each of the plays I could barely let myself just relax and play. Grace was one for one from three, Sarah dominated on her hook shot, Lindy was bombing, and Nneka killed it on the glass. I’m so proud of them.

I honestly think this team will have a lot to show the country, and while we lost an amazing player in Candice, we have several people more than ready to step up. I can’t wait to be out there playing with them, but in the meantime I’ll be cheering them on in any way I can.

Morgan Clyburn