The middle school girls basketball teams have managed to get a positive record despite the pandemic, a shortage of players, and other challenges.

We’re around halfway through the winter sports season, and the MS Girls Basketball teams are steadily improving their technique. After each team’s win on February 1st, the team is preparing for their next games. Both the sixth grade and the seventh-eighth teams have positive records, and are excited for their next match.

“I think the biggest [strength] is just a want to play basketball and have fun,” remarks Mr. Christopher Burton, MS Girls Basketball Coach. “Not every team has that, I’ve coached teams that don’t, and that’s really great because girls come wanting to play and hustle, and I think the team showed that today [Feb. 1].”

Both teams won at home on February first against St. Paul’s Day School. The sixth grade team has had an outstanding season, and has only lost once at the time of the St. Paul’s game, and the seventh and eighth grade team has three wins and three losses, despite having a shortage of players at every game.

Of course, the teams still have things to work on, and Burton has ideas for future practices to improve the teams’ overall performance, “I think the biggest thing that we need to work on is working on as many fundamentals as we can. A lot of that comes to practice, and we only have two practices a week, and that makes it really hard to work on things continuously.” Practices for the team typically take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Burton recalled his favorite part of coaching the teams, “My favorite part [of coaching the team] is just watching girls be able to improve and have fun playing basketball. It’s a game I grew up loving and playing so being able to be a part of that and watching others have fun and help them on that journey means a lot.” The girls on both teams range from playing competitive club basketball to never playing before. Even so, Coach Chris is able to help both experienced and inexperienced players improve and have a good time.

“Just hanging in there, putting the effort in, and trying. There’s always going to be people who feel like they’re not as good, or make mistakes, but that’s not really what it’s all about,” Coach Burton said. “It’s about trying and getting back up when you fall down, and this team is one of those teams that has that.”

Burton was asked how he felt going into his next game, to which he responded, “I feel good, I think we both got good wins [on Feb. 1], everyone played really well and we improved from our last game.”

You can check the team’s schedule for more information at the middle school athletics page of the Barstow School website.