Bird is ready to lead

Playing with USA basketball this summer was an absolute amazing experience. South Korea had an amazing atmosphere with amazing people. Much of the experience was like the Olympics, we had an opening and closing ceremonies and even a World University games village. Despite my worries, the food was amazing and if you ever want to try some good Korean food, I recommend authentic Korean barbeque. Besides the great food, just being able to play with some of the nation’s top players was an unforgettable experience. Winning the gold was great, but being able to win it with such an amazing team and coaching staff made it even better.

One of the biggest things I learned from this experience was leadership. Being a captain of such an elite team, taught me communication was a key part of our success. Twelve girls means twelve different personalities. Learning to have different conversations with these players not only helped me understand that each person will bring a different type of energy to the group, but also everyone’s effort and energy is necessary in order to achieve the common goal. I also learned how to be the middleman by communicating with both the coaches and team to make sure that there was a common ground on certain tasks. This year I look forward to bringing my leadership qualities to the team. I want to be someone who my teammates feel they can lean on, on and off the court. Leaders have a very important job, but I think this year I am ready to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park!

This year’s team is going to be GREAT. We have a lot of talent that will help us tag-team a lot, which allow us to keep a fast pace the entire game. I have so much confidence in this team, I look forward to winning many games. When everyone thinks Stanford basketball, one thing that comes to mind is tradition. There are so many one can think of, but when I think of this team I think sisterhood and success.

Erica (Bird) McCall