Modern Girls Basketball
My father in law coaches girl’s basketball.
He’s done it ever since he started teaching after he retired from the Marines over 20 years ago. He tried to sit out a season a few years back, but took the next assistant job offered to him during that year. He said he was going crazy just sitting around.
He’s coached for quite a few of the high schools in
Tonight I went to watch him coach this year’s team. It’s a
tiny private school located very close to his home. It’s very small, about the size of the small town high school I
attended in
I took my camera along to have something to do while the game was being played.
As I watched the teams warm up, I wondered how different today’s game would be from that played by my high school’s girls basketball team, the state championship runner-up Adel Tigerettes.
Here’s what I learned about today’s version of girl’s basketball.
Today
they use magnetic strips to hold the names of the starting lineup and reserves.
Instead of chalkboards they use erasable markers and small white boards with a template of the court.
The
girls still have team spirit.
They
still start the game with a jump ball, but it’s 5 on 5 these days, none of that
quaint 6 on 6 they played in the old days on the prairie.
They
still shoot free throws.
They
still play the two-three zone, just like we used to
play for Coach Gunderson. And it still forces kids to launch long jumpers from
way outside their range.
They
still lob over the zone trap press.
They
still block out for rebounds.
They
still defense the inbound pass, just like Patty Turley used to do.
They
still drive to the hole, just like Joyce Elder used to do.
They
still fight for rebounds.
They
still throw up out-of-control runners. (At our school, this shot would have
brought down the Wrath Of Niemeyer. If she’d played for Adel, this girl would
have been running bleachers for a month.)
They
still concentrate on their free throws.
They
still steal the ball and run the fast break.
They
still stare up into ominous double teams.
They
still get full extension on their free throws.
They
still force the ball upcourt.
Coaches
still get their point across during time outs.
They still make their free throws.
They
still elevate for their jumpers.
The
guys still scope out the cheer leaders during quarter breaks.
They
are still moving the ball upcourt with the two hand
chest pass.
And
sometimes the team’s best player watches the entire season from the bench with
a blown out knee.
They
still look for an opening for the entry pass.
They
still launch shots over a double team.
The
coaches are still teaching with every move, expression, grunt and word.
And
they are still providing comfort when their players foul out.
And
they are still shooting free throws.
They
are still fighting through adversity.
They
are still playing defense on the head instead of the pelvis and wondering why
they get beat on the drive.
The
bench is still hating to lose as much as the starters.
They
are still hustling the ball up the court, even when they are hopelessly behind
in the closing seconds.
And
even when the scoreboard tells a sad story,
they are still congratulating each other for a game well
played.
It’s been just about exactly 30 years since I shot a girls basketball game.
Back then, I was shooting future hall of fame coach Larry Niemeyer and the Adel Tigerettes as they marched to the state championship game.
Although it’s probably unfair to compare athletes from different eras, I couldn’t help but wonder how the girls I watched tonight would have fared against my schoolmates Sherry, Judy, Patty, Joyce, Julie and Barb. The girls today have such advanced nutrition, medical care, facilities and overall athletic programs, it really is a different world in women’s athletics. They have so many advantages today, are so much taller, are so athletic and have such superior equipment, it just isn’t comparing apples and apples to even wonder how these modern kids would have matched up against the girls from my little high school.
But as I watched the two
Adel
Tigerettes,
(More photos of Adel High School during that era can be found here.)