Team Preview: Fairfield Lady Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
If any team is enduring a rebuilding year, learning year or a year where a team can be described as a “young team,” then it is the 2011-12 Fairfield Lady Lions.
The team has no seniors and no juniors. They consist of four sophomores and four freshmen, and they will have a total of 13 players in the high school basketball program.
This teams will, in fact, have to learn on the fly as they are led by head coach Matt Hodson.
Sophomores this season are Courtney Hodson, Heather Cox, Cynnamon Sova-Davy and Shelby Smithson. Freshmen are Kaitlin Spargur, Lydia Sowders, Haley Bobb and Justice Hattan on the varsity team.
"It's going to be a learning and growing experience for these kids with only two players back with any varsity experience," Hodson said. "A lot of these kids worked all summer, getting familiar with the system.
"It's going to be a struggle starting out with so many players without experience."
Returning are Cox and Smithson.
"Last year I didn't expect them to play a whole lot on varsity because we had Chelsey (Riddle), but when she got injured, Heather and Shelby had to step in and play. They got a lot of minutes, and that is really going to help them as players this year," Hodson said.
The head coach spoke about the good things with his team, especially their character and attitude.
"They are a really good group, and they do what we ask them to do," Hodson said. "There are no questions of ‘why do we have to do this’ or ‘why do we have to do that,’ they just jump right in. Our practices are more up-tempo … Coach Vance came over from the boys program, and he has a lot of new ideas for practice.
"Our practices are a lot faster with drills and and new ideas. They are at a faster pace, and all these girls and not one has questioned anything."
Having a young group now could possibly pay dividends in the future.
"I've talked to a few people, and coaches said to me said ‘well, you are young now, but when these kids are juniors and seniors, they will have the most experience in the league,’" Hodson said. "That is true, and I'm sure we are going to take some lumps this year, but they will get better and learn from this."
Not having any upperclassmen is different for all involved.
"Ever since I've been the coach, I've had multiple seniors in the program, but this group of sophomores has really stepped up. It’s hard to believe that you can say sophomores can be leaders, but they are stepping into that role," Hodson said. "It is a whole lot more of a coaching opportunity with a younger team.
"We've changed some things … changed our offense around. The kids are learning, I'm learning and I've coached a lot more basic, fundamental stuff."[[In-content Ad]]
The team has no seniors and no juniors. They consist of four sophomores and four freshmen, and they will have a total of 13 players in the high school basketball program.
This teams will, in fact, have to learn on the fly as they are led by head coach Matt Hodson.
Sophomores this season are Courtney Hodson, Heather Cox, Cynnamon Sova-Davy and Shelby Smithson. Freshmen are Kaitlin Spargur, Lydia Sowders, Haley Bobb and Justice Hattan on the varsity team.
"It's going to be a learning and growing experience for these kids with only two players back with any varsity experience," Hodson said. "A lot of these kids worked all summer, getting familiar with the system.
"It's going to be a struggle starting out with so many players without experience."
Returning are Cox and Smithson.
"Last year I didn't expect them to play a whole lot on varsity because we had Chelsey (Riddle), but when she got injured, Heather and Shelby had to step in and play. They got a lot of minutes, and that is really going to help them as players this year," Hodson said.
The head coach spoke about the good things with his team, especially their character and attitude.
"They are a really good group, and they do what we ask them to do," Hodson said. "There are no questions of ‘why do we have to do this’ or ‘why do we have to do that,’ they just jump right in. Our practices are more up-tempo … Coach Vance came over from the boys program, and he has a lot of new ideas for practice.
"Our practices are a lot faster with drills and and new ideas. They are at a faster pace, and all these girls and not one has questioned anything."
Having a young group now could possibly pay dividends in the future.
"I've talked to a few people, and coaches said to me said ‘well, you are young now, but when these kids are juniors and seniors, they will have the most experience in the league,’" Hodson said. "That is true, and I'm sure we are going to take some lumps this year, but they will get better and learn from this."
Not having any upperclassmen is different for all involved.
"Ever since I've been the coach, I've had multiple seniors in the program, but this group of sophomores has really stepped up. It’s hard to believe that you can say sophomores can be leaders, but they are stepping into that role," Hodson said. "It is a whole lot more of a coaching opportunity with a younger team.
"We've changed some things … changed our offense around. The kids are learning, I'm learning and I've coached a lot more basic, fundamental stuff."[[In-content Ad]]